Every day of Lent, Bishop Malesic offers a Scripture
reflection, and then it is posted on Facebook, Instagram, X, and the diocesan
website. This morning Bishop Malesic asks a great question, inspired by our
reading from the book of Jonah, that each of us does well to ponder.
Bishop writes, “I love reading the Book of Jonah. It’s about
a man of faith who tried to run away from God’s will. Who of us can’t say that
we have done the same from time to time?”
During Lent, the people of God take the time to humbly and honestly consider how
each of us have in some way run away from God. Our running away from God may
consist of our regular struggle with sin. Sin is running away from the will of
God—sin is a departure from the path of life—it is that willful wandering away
from the goodness of the one who only desires and does what is best for us. Lent
is the call to turn back to the One from whom we’ve run away.
Sometimes we run away from God because we believe that sin
will make us happy, at least temporarily. Sometimes we become so embroiled in
the corrupt tendencies of our fallen nature that we don’t even recognize how
far we’ve fallen.
There is another type of running away from God that comes
from reluctance—reluctance to do something difficult that God is asking us to
do.
God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh. And Jonah did not want to
go to Ninevah. And so he does everything he can to run away from this calling.
He boards a ship and sails in the opposite direction. But God had other plans.
God really wanted Jonah to go to Ninevah. So there was a storm, and a big fish
that swallows Jonah and places him at the shore of Nineveh. Jonah could have
saved himself a lot of trouble if he just would have gone to Nineveh in the
first place.
So too when we run away from God. It usually causes more
frustration when we run away, than if we just would have done the hard thing to
begin with.
And what do we find when Jonah finally overcomes his
reluctance. There is this miracle. Jonah goes and preaches in Nineveh and the
entire city, with a population of something like120,000 people, from Nobility
to peasant, repents in sack cloth and ashes. They turn to God because Jonah was
faithful, to this task that he reluctantly fought to get out of.
At times, I think many of us refuse, like Jonah, initially,
to go where God wants us to go because it looks hard. We say, “God couldn’t
possibly be asking me to go there, it’s hard, I don’t know those people, it
would make me uncomfortable”.
But God’s will often looks like a cross, and yes, there
might be some suffering involved, but out of that suffering comes the miracle
of life for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
We should pour forth prayers at all times dear brothers and
sisters but above all in these days of lent we ought to watch more intently
with Christ and direct our petitions more fervently to God.
For the Church, that this Lenten season may be a time of
sincere repentance, turning from sin, and faithfully embracing God's will.
For those who, like Jonah, feel reluctant or afraid to
follow God's calling, that they may find courage, trust, and peace in saying
"yes" to His divine plan.
For all Christians, that they might recognize and turn from
the ways they have run away from God, returning wholeheartedly to His merciful
embrace
For those who feel
trapped in cycles of sin or temptation, that this Lent may bring them freedom,
healing, and the strength to pursue God's will above their own comfort
For the sick and the suffering: for the grace to endure the
suffering or hardships confident in the promise that God's will leads
ultimately to life and salvation.
For all the faithful
departed, that having persevered through their earthly crosses, they may now
rejoice forever in God's heavenly kingdom, especially N.
Grant we pray our Lord that your people may turn to you with
all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may
receive by your mercy.
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