Reflection/Homily for Tuesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time 10th October 2023

Reflection/Homily for Tuesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time 10th October 2023

Jonah 3:1-10. Psalm 130:1-2,3-4,7bc-8. Luke 10:38-42. 

In the first reading, the people of Nineveh heard God's words as proclaimed by Prophet Jonah. They accepted it, reflected on it, and they had a change of heart and attitude. They repented, and the Lord was merciful to them. "When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it" (Jonah 3:10).

In today's Gospel, the story of Martha and Mary presents two models of discipleship: of one disciple who "sees and does" and another disciple who "listens and hears." Both models of discipleship are important in our relationship with God. Jesus, in saying that, "One thing is needful. Mary had chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42) is not condemning Martha. One action precedes the other. It is what we first hear that we will do.

Faith comes from hearing the good news of Christ Jesus (Rom.10:17). If we do not listen to the good news, how can we have faith in God? We must first be taught before we can do anything good. The word of God that we hear produces the good we do. The people of Nineveh on hearing God's word in the first reading repented.

May God grant us the grace to put his words into practice through Christ our Lord. Amen.

OR

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Jonah 3:1-10; Ps.130; Luke 10:38-42

Be Humble!

At last, Jonah is in Nineveh and the message of repentance has reached the Ninevites. Yesterday, we learnt from the ordeal of Jonah not to begrudge God’s mercy. God will always be merciful; this mercy was abundantly showered on the Ninevites. However, the first reading of today makes us understand a necessarily criterion for Divine Mercy: repentance. The people of Nineveh were able to tap from the richness of God’s mercy because they humbled themselves and repented of their sins. Now, it was the whole land that was guilty of turning away from God. This was a city that God himself described as “that great city”. It means that Nineveh would have been the pride of many neighbouring nations.

The message of Jonah was one that called for a radical and wholistic turnaround from their manner of living. This could have been difficult to accept! How dare a commoner like Jonah tell such a great city that they do not know what they have doing? Jonah could have been accused and reprimanded for speaking “rudely and disrespectfully” to the king. If you are asking a poor or unsuccessful person to change his or her way of life, he or she may heed your word; in search for a better life. But to speak of such radical change of a great city, is something that should be massively resisted.

Against all these anticipations, Nineveh promptly and wholeheartedly accepted the message of repentance without any form of resistance. They quickly repented so that they could stand the chance of appeasing God whom they have sinned against. Truly, their longing was meant. God saw the sincerity of their repentance and forgave them.

But let us notice that it was humility that actually saved Nineveh. In their greatness, they were still humble. Beloved, if we lack the virtue of humility, many things will go wrong for us and around us. Without humility, people with the right intention will not approach us; those who see our flaws will not talk to us about it but will say it to others. Proud people do not take advice, and so, they are not able to gain from the wealth of experience of others. Proud people see faults in others but only perfection in themselves.

Beloved, if there is one thing we should learn from the Ninevites today, it is to be humble irrespective of who we are and what we have. As humans, we are not perfect; but the extent to which our imperfection will rub on us is dependent on our humble disposition towards life. Be humble so that you can be corrected when you go wrong. Remember, pride goes before a fall.