Merciful, Compassionate, Kind and Forgiving

Homily for Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

The mercy of God is on full display in today’s texts from the Hebrew Scriptures and from the Gospel of St. Luke.

The first reading comes from the conclusion of the Book of Jonah. The story that we hear not only reveals why Jonah did not wish to go to Nineveh in the first place, it also displays how powerfully God loves all of humankind. Nineveh was a large city whose inhabitants were enemies of Israel. Jonah runs from God’s command that to go and preach to the people of Nineveh because of the enmity that he held in his heart for these people. Deep in his heart, he knew that God was merciful, compassionate and kind. However, his efforts to run away were in vain.

I’m sure that you are familiar with the story of how Jonah was thrown overboard from the ship on which he was trying to escape from God’s will. God sent a great fish to swallow Jonah; after three days, the fish spewed Jonah onto dry land which just happened to be very close to Nineveh. When Jonah preached to the citizens of Nineveh, they repented. God relented in his punishment for these people when they demonstrated their repentance by fasting and sackcloth. This makes Jonah the very first and only prophet to succeed in bringing people to repentance. While one would think that he would be proud of the fact that his preaching had been effective, he demonstrated his displeasure by asking God to let him die. Through a gourd plant, God teaches Jonah a lesson about mercy and compassion which extends to all people.

Our Gospel text for today gives us St. Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. Although it is shorter than the version that we pray every day, all the essential elements of this prayer are present. Particularly of interest is the fact that we pray for forgiveness and promise to forgive our debtors. Unfortunately, like Jonah we probably fail in forgiving others. As we recite this prayer each day of our lives, it is a daily reminder of the fact that because we are made in the image and likeness of God, we too are called to be a merciful and forgiving people.