Jonah began to go
into the city, going a day’s journey. And he cried, “Yet forty days, and
Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they
proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least
of them. Then tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his
throne, removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the
king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything;
let them not feed, or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let everyone turn from his evil
way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who
knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish
not?” 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.[1]
This passage reminds me of Lent and
also of that dreaded topic: death. “Yet
forty days, and you shall die.”
Oftentimes, we like to “bury our heads in the sand” and tell ourselves, “If
I don’t think of death, it won’t happen.”
We know it is not true; however, is that not what we are really
thinking? St. Paul tells us to think
about it: I tell you, brothers, the time
is running out.[2] This does not dissuade us though. We quickly cast his negative words aside, for
there are more pleasant things to think about.
Lent is quickly approaching, wherein the Church reminds us, “Time is
running out.” Nevertheless, we shall
cast that warning aside and just think of what we are going to give up for Lent.
This causes me to recall my Marine
Corps boot camp days. Many of our
running chants dealt with the premise that we were going to die in combat. “Jody” has taken our girl; there is nothing
left. All that is left is the enemies of
our country and taking out as many as we can before we die. “Time is running out; yet forty days, and we
shall die.” However, how we die is
important. Although it was understood
that wives and parents would be notified, it was important that someone with
us, who knew us, would tell them also.
In the book, Voices of the Pacific, Marine Art Pendleton tells
us: “On the way to Cape Gloucester (New Britain), I can remember more than once
that we discussed how we’re not gonna make it this time. The odds were against us. Everyone was saying, ‘This is my address. Be sure and get in touch with so and so’.”[3] Many married men who knew they were dying,
the important thing to them was “Tell my wife I love her.” Yet in
forty days, and we shall die.
Of course, I’m no psychiatrist, no
doctor, etc. I don’t know what goes on
in everyone’s mind. However, I think the
majority of people fear death because, somewhere deep their heart, they know
they will be judged, that they are facing the unknown. We know that death is inevitable; however, we
don’t want to think about it. What we
need to do is think about, and act upon it.
I meet people who think they are “okay,”
not going to hell, because they believe in Jesus. Is that enough? Our Lord’s own words tell us: “Not everyone
who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”[4] What about the parable of the ten virgins—"Christians”? “Afterward the other maidens came also,
saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do
not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”[5] This would imply that just believing in
Jesus, or “accepting” him, is not enough.
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”[6] It is for this reason, I think, that we fear
death. We know we are not without sin,
and comfort and pleasure are important to us.
Prestige is important to us. We
know that we are God’s creation, created for his purpose. He is God; he is Holy; He is Justice. Because he is God, we must obey him. We know that Christ did not die in order that
we may continue to sin without condemnation. Therefore, we fear because of our loves, i.e.
comfort, pleasures, prestige, etc. But
what do we do about it?
We need to consider Louis de
Montford’s words: “Alas! Ungrateful and faithless that I am, I have not kept
the promises which I made so solemnly to you in my baptism. I have not fulfilled my obligations. I do not deserve to be called your son, nor
even your slave … as there is nothing in me which does not merit your anger and
your repulse…”[7] When we arrive at this conclusion and begin
to repent, we are in essence putting on sackcloth. We also conclude that we are not strong
enough to overcome our sins. We are
called to be humble; nonetheless, our pride keeps us from being humble. If we think we are humble, it is pride that
is telling us this.
Archbishop Luis Martinez tells us: “The
spiritual life is indubitably a continual ascent, since perfection consists in
union with God, and God stands above all creation. To arrive at God, we must ascend, but the
paradox that I emphasize lies in this: that the secret of ascending is to
descend. St. Augustine, in his
inimitable style, thus explains this paradox: ‘Consider, O brethren, this great
marvel. God is on high: reach up to Him,
and He flees from you; lower yourself before Him, and He comes down to you’.”[8] We face a paradox: We are important because
we are God’s creation; however, we must become as if we are nothing. Because of pride, we are unable to do this. When Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, man
desires to determine what is right and what is wrong, not having God tell
them. If what man determines is at
variance with what God says, man ascertains that what man determines is
correct. How often have we heard, “The
Church says this, but I…”? As a result,
we must turn to the One who can change us.
The psalmist sees this; hence, he
cries out: “Make known to me your ways, Lord;
teach
me your paths. Guide me by your fidelity
and teach me, for you are God my savior,
for
you I wait all the day long.”[9] Due to our plea, God became Incarnate, began
to call his apostles (Mk 1:14-20)—for the purpose of instituting his Church—and
then underwent his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. He gave us the Church so that he would continue
to guide us through her, for yet in forty
days we shall be overthrown—in other words, because time is running out.
When we do turn to Christ to
accomplish humbleness (humility) in us and he begins to perform it, we
immediately begin to get discouraged, depressed, and start grumbling because we
do not like discipline. Discipline is
painful--sometimes physically, sometimes mentally. Listen to the words of St. Paul: “You were
grieved into repenting; for you felt a godly grief … For godly grief produces a
repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief
produces death. For see what earnestness
this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what
indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!”[10] Likewise, the author of Hebrews instructs us:
“Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let
your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection.”[11] We need to see everything that confronts us
as God putting it there for our salvation.
Desolation, in reality, is more beneficial to us than consolation. It is through desolation that we become
refined.
It needs be that we arrive at the
determination that we are needy in order to become as the Ninevites in
repentance. Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that
we perish not?” 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.
This conjures up another question:
What did the Ninevites do after the forty days had passed? Can we not anticipate that Satan put in their
minds, “See, Jonah lied; God wasn’t going to destroy you”? We can imagine many doubts began coming to
mind. As the days, weeks, months, and
years went by, they began turning back to their old ways. “The city eventually shared in the collapse
of the Assyrian Empire: it was besieged by the Babylonians and Medes in 614 b.c.
and finally captured in 612 b.c. The
city was utterly destroyed, and its remains were left to pass into history.”[12] We also are in danger of not persevering to
the end. We can presume that we have
done enough, that we have “arrived.” Let
us pay heed to the parable of the dishonest judge and the widow. Our Lord instructs us: “Pay attention to what
the dishonest judge says. Will not God
then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night (emphasis added)? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is
done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on
earth?”[13] In the words of St. Augustine: “Our Lord adds
this to show that, when faith fails, prayer dies. In order to pray, then, we must have faith;
and that our faith fail not, we must pray. Faith pours forth prayer, and the pouring
forth of the heart in prayer gives steadfastness to faith.”[14]
Yet in forty days we shall be
overthrown; we shall die. For us, it is
not a literal forty days; it just means that our time is near. We are living in the last days. Mankind has been in the last days since the
ascension of our Lord. Christ may return
in the next second, minute, hour, day, etc., or we may die within that
time. Let us not push this out of our
minds because we think it is unpleasant, scary, or whatever the case may
be. Let us look upon it, see that we are
not ready, and plead constantly to be transformed. We must do this to the end. When we do this and the end does come, we
will then find that God has blessed death by going through it himself. We will see, as St. Ambrose tells us: “Because
of transgression, the life of man condemned to lengthened labor began to be
wretched with intolerable groaning; so that it was fitting that an end should
be set to the evils and that death should restore what life had lost. For immortality, unless grace breathed upon it,
would be rather a burden than an advantage.
And if one considers accurately, it is not the death of our being but of
evil, for being continues; it is evil that perishes.”[15] If we cease not to pray and act, it will not
be the death of us but the evil which is in us.
[1]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National
Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Jon 3:4–10.
[2] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), 1 Co 7:29.
[3] Makos, Adam, Voices of the Pacific, p. 89
[4]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National
Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Mt 7:21.
[5]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National
Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Mt 25:11–13.
[6]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National
Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Lk 6:46.
[7] Louis-Marie G. de Montfort, The Secret of Mary:
Unveiled to the Devout Soul, (London: Art and Book Company, 1909), 83–86.
[8] Martinez, Archbishop Luis M. Worshipping a Hidden God (Kindle Locations
94-98). Sophia Institute Press. Kindle Edition.
[9] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Ps 25:4–5.
[10]
Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible:
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National
Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), 2 Co 7:9–11.
[11] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Jas 4:9.
[13] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Lk 18:6–8.
[14] Aquinas, St. Thomas. Catena Aurea - Gospel of St.
Luke - EasyRead Version (Kindle Locations 9750-9752). Kindle Edition
[15]
Ambrose of Milan, St. Ambrose: Select
Works and Letters, 1896, 10, 181.
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