Call to Conversion

In today's first reading, Jonah 3: 1-10, God asked Jonah to "'set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you' so Jonah [after being asked a second time] made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord's bidding....Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk. announcing,  'Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,' when the people of Nineveh believed God; they  proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth....When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he relented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them.

Several things of which to take note: Number one, that Jonah did God's bidding and what was being asked of him was no small task. Nineveh was a large city and it would take three days to get through it. Number two, the message Jonah was asked to deliver was a harsh one: "Nineveh, in 40 days you will be destroyed if you do not turn from your evil ways." Number three, the people listened and repented of their evil ways.  Number four, God changed His mind and showed the people mercy once they repented of their sinful ways!

What would you or I do if God sent us a messenger to let  us know that, in forty days,
we will be destroyed if we do not turn from our evil ways?  Would we listen? Would we do penance, admit our wrongdoing and turn from our mediocrity, our selfishness, our divisiveness, our prejudicial and judgmental ways of relating to people who are different from us, smarter than us, more successful than us? Would we turn from our lazy and undisciplined ways of living our faith, from the lackadaisical attitudes that "anything goes these days"?  Would we stop idolizing those who are brazenly wicked, covering up the truth of corruption in high places,lying for ourselves and others so as to avoid the price of discipleship?

 Finally, would you or I simply, vehemently and boastfully dismiss the messenger, saying: "What foolishness!" "This person does not know what he/she is talking about!"  "I can't be bothered with persons who think they are better than most of us!"  "I'm doing nothing wrong but only following what everyone else is doing. So why should I change my thinking or choosing?"