Love Your Enemies

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Though the Book of the Prophet Jonah is very short and contains more "story" than it does "prophecy," it packs a powerful punch because of the context in which it is set. Jesus teaches that we should love our enemies. The Book of Jonah illustrates that teaching.

Nineveh was an enemy of Israel. This is certainly one of the reasons Jonah runs away from his vocation when God asks him to go to Nineveh and to preach. Later on in the book, Jonah claims that he didn't want to go because he knew that God would relent and would not punish the Ninevites. While that may be true, the overriding reason for his reticence was that he and his countrymen hated the Ninevites.

When God spares Nineveh because they listen to Jonah's preaching, the lesson comes through loud and clear. Although the Israelites saw themselves as the chosen people, God obviously loves all people, believers and non-believers alike. The Gospel writers pick up this lesson. Jesus criticizes his own generation for failing to heed God's word. He rubs salt in the wound of his statement by recalling Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba, two examples of non-believers who were swayed by God's word.

If the story were being written today, who would be our Ninevites? Is God calling us to reach out to them? Are we listening?