INVITATIONS OF CHANGE

March 12, 2025 – Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031225.cfm)

What could make us give up on hope for others? When our heart is gripped by hatred and resentment then we easily give up on hope. When our memories are also petrified by our painful past, this could prevent us from realizing that there is hope. Indeed, hope for a change of heart and transformation of a person might be next to impossible.

We shall find it difficult to be reconciled. This is especially true when we have been deeply hurt by others. The pain and many hurts caused to us could make our heart hardened by anger and hatred.

A friend, who because of the unbearable pain he experienced from a person took revenge by his own hands. He became violent and hostile.  He believed that it will be his only way of moving on. He thought that the person who caused such agony to him did not deserve any mercy. Yet, later, he too was being haunted by his own guilt. The hatred, resentment and violence that overwhelmed his heart, as he realized, brought more damage and pain to him.

That friend reminds me of our liturgical readings today. In the Book of Jonah, the prophet showed rebellious attitude towards God. Jonah was sent by God to do something, which he did not want to do. For that reason, Jonah tried to escape from God and to escape from the very responsibility that God gave him.

Jonah was sent to Nineveh, a city of which he hated so much. It was the city of the Assyrians. They were the very people who oppressed the Israelite. Jonah resented so much the Assyrians.

We can understand why Jonah showed deep disgust and hatred against the Assyrians. This was the reason why he tried to escape from God. God sent him to Nineveh to preach repentance so that God may show mercy. God’s mercy will save the Assyrians from death and eternal punishment.

However, Jonah feared that these people will repent and believe in God. Jonah was against the idea of  God showing mercy to them. Jonah just wanted these people to suffer, to die and to rot in hell. He did not want his enemies to be saved and to be shown mercy.

Yet, this happened. Even with a heavy heart, Jonah did as what God told him. So, Jonah called the people to repentance. To his surprise, his enemies repented and believed in God. The Assyrians realized their faults and recognized the Lord God in their midst. That awareness changed their hearts and transformed the people.

Well, like Jonah, do we also find ourselves wishing or even praying for the suffering and death for those whom we hate? Does our resentful heart also desire vengeance and violence against those who have caused us so much pain?

In our own context now, we might also find ourselves wishing and cursing those people who did something terrible to others. When violence and or a crime is done to an innocent one, we also demand the same violence and crime to perpetrators. Like Jonah, we might have also believed that justice is fulfilled through a gruesome death to our enemies. Like Jonah, we might tend to believe that God should not show mercy to those who have hurt us. Like Jonah, we might demand from God to become indifferent to our enemies and people who did terrible things to the innocent.

Yet, this ancient story of Jonah tells us of something else. In this ancient story, the Lord God is revealed to be a God of everyone, of good and bad people, of righteous and sinners, of criminals and law-abiding citizens alike. God is for everyone as His mercy is for all.

God indeed shows mercy. Jesus who became human like us and lived among us is the Father’s ultimate sign of mercy and love. In Jesus, the Father tells us that we are never abandoned. In Jesus, there is always hope and goodness in each of us no matter how broken we are, and sinful we have turned to be. The Lord God always sees goodness in each of us.

From here, let us embrace the invitations of change.

First is the change of heart. The Assyrians were oppressors, abusers and thus sinners. Yet, when Jonah called for repentance, the people realized how sinful they were. These people acknowledged their sins, repented and believed in God. This changed their heart. We too are called to change our heart by owning our sins and failures, to repent and believe in God’s mercy.

Second is the change of mind. We were told that God changed the Divine will when the Lord saw that the people repented. Should we not change also our mind according to how God sees in us?

Third is the change of perspective and belief. Jonah realized that God is beyond his wants and beyond what he expects from God. The Lord is our God and it is God’s nature to grant mercy. God’s desire is to liberate from sin those who caused pain to others and those who are being oppressed and abused. God, indeed, desires the salvation of everyone. Hinaut pa.