Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10 – The people of Nineveh renounce their evil behaviour.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24(25):4-6, 7b-9 – Lord, make me know your ways.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 – The world as we know it is passing away.

Gospel: Mark 1:14-20 – I will make you into fishers of men.

“Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed”. The story of Jonah and Nineveh is a story that should be understood figuratively. Rather than fixating on the historical probability of the event narrated, it is more beneficial for us to understand ‘Nineveh’ as an epithet for the seat of godlessness, lawlessness, immorality and corruption.  In other words, Nineveh represents the personification of sin. In this sense therefore, we, as sinners, are all Nineveh. Therefore, when we hear the warning that “only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed”, we have to understand it that God has given each and every one of us “forty days” of grace within which to repent or perish. But what, specifically, is the symbolism of “forty days”?

The bible is full of instances of the use of the expression “forty days”. It was used extensively in the entire history of salvation, from Old to New Testaments. Without going into the analyses of these usages, it suffices to state that in the light of the present-day coronavirus crises, a renewed interest has been given to the word “quarantine”. The word “quarantine” simply means a period of forty days. The French word for forty is quarante; and a forty-day period is called quarantaine, which means also a period of isolation. In the olden days, when a ship suspected of carrying contagious disease arrived, it was held in isolation from the shore for forty days. This was done to monitor the people on board for any sign of contamination. In other words, quarantine is a forty-day period in which people who have been exposed to a disease are restricted and monitored for any sign that they have been infected. This period is a difficult one for them; but if they come out clean and cleared, then they will have a new beginning. It is in this context that we shall understand “forty days” pronouncement of Jonah as a period of probation or trial for the people of Nineveh. This probation period is equally a period of preparation that precedes a new beginning.

The people of the Biblical Nineveh were great sinners. Their evil deeds were monumental. They needed “forty days” of intense monitoring in order to have any chance of a new beginning; but none was offered them. Jonah was sure that their situation was irredeemable, and as such, instead of wasting his time and energy quarantining them, decided to run away. But what Jonah did not know was that he himself was the forty days that Nineveh needed, as was evident from the first reading of today. When they were eventually offered the forty days, the people of Nineveh accepted it and made adequate use of it. Contrast their “story” with the “story” of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were also offered “forty days” but rejected it.  The result of the two incidents is that in the first case, God saw their efforts to renounce their evil behaviour, and relented. In the second case, God saw their determination to continue in their sin, and therefore had to carry out his threat by destroying them. In the Gospel, Jesus offered the same “forty days” to the Jews, but only a few accepted it.

In order to accept and make use of the forty days, there is a secret that is ironical: you must be ready and prepared to listen to a stranger – somebody you have not previously known. When Jesus called the pair of brothers – Simon and Andrew; James and John – he was a total stranger to them. But when Jesus asked them to follow him, they left everything, including their parents, and followed him. The rest of the people must have rationalized the absurdity of following a stranger to an unknown destination. Their rationalization ultimately earned them a missed opportunity to make use of the “forty days”. Jonah was a total stranger to the people of Nineveh; but the people listened to his preaching and warning, and thereby averted their destruction. The three angels that visited Sodom and Gomorrah were rejected by them on account of the fact that they were strangers. The result of their rejection was their total destruction.

Brethren, we have all been offered forty days. This is our own period of quarantine; our own period of preparation for a new beginning. But as it is the case with every forty days, it must involve some strangeness – a strange person, a strange teaching, or, both. People don’t normally make progress in life because they are contented with the ordinary. They don’t want to leave their comfort zone and venture into the unknown. Exploration is all about going away from the ordinary and venturing into the unknown, into the strange world, to broaden one’s horizon. The same could, in a way, be also said about spirituality. It involves some element of strangeness in the form of venturing into the unknown. Accept the strangeness and you shall have accepted the forty days. Reject the strangeness and you shall have rejected the forty-day experience that offers an opportunity for a new beginning. After all, Christianity was described early on as a “strange teaching” and as a “strange religion”. And in the Bible itself, there is a “strange” world – the world of God, in which for instances, tax collectors and sinners will enter into this new world rather than the self-styled righteous people of the society.

Only forty days more and we shall be destroyed. This “forty days” is a call to leave our comfort zones and venture into the unknown, the strange world. Hearken to the voice of Jonah in your life and you shall have availed yourself the opportunity to be saved.