We have seen many cartoons featuring an itinerant preacher or prophet with a poster that says, “The End is Near”.
The archetype of this image is Jonah, who prophesied to Nineveh,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “
Or, “The End is Near”.
St. Paul, tells us today,
I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out…
…
For the world in its present form is passing away.
Or, “The End is Near.”
St. Mark tells us,
John [the] Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
And he called out those who needed repentance.
In Mark’s Gospel we hear,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Do you hear the consistent prophecy from our scriptures? From Jonah to Jesus, “Repent”. The world in its present form will pass away. However, Jesus offers us a new Way. “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”
Jonah is an interesting character. He is one of the most famous prophets of the Old Testament, … but NONE of his prophecies came true! We think of him as a reluctant, selfish prophet. Ninevah was in what is now Syria, was one of the most feared and hated enemies of Israel. One King of Nineveh supposedly made a palace with the bones of his defeated enemies.
Jonah, an Israelite, did not want to save his enemy. He ran away from the mission God called him to do, to preach repentance to Ninevah to save them from God’s wrath and ultimate destruction.
Ninevah was a huge city, but probably not much bigger than Manor or Pflugerville. It says Ninevah was so large that it took three days to go through it. However, we are not talking about walking across the city, from point A to point B. The challenge for Jonah was likely that he had to preach in every part of the city, walking up and down the streets and neighborhoods. After only one day, the city of Ninevah began to repent of their sins.
Jonas’ message from God was,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “
The people of Nineveh listened to Jonah and repented.
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
The rest of the story is about Jonah being very angry about these results. Nineveh was a feared enemy of Israel. Jonah wanted to watch them suffer and die at the hands of God as he had prophecied, but he was disappointed when it didn’t happen that way. Nineveh repented, and God relented.
We talk a great deal as Christians about “Belief” and “Faith”. “I believe in God, do you believe in God?”. Many say they believe in God. We know from scripture that even the Devil and his demons believe in God. But for God, belief is not good enough.
What God really values above all is a change of heart. Repentance is a change of heart. To repent is to acknowledge we were wrong, and to change direction.
John the Baptist called for repentance. His water baptism was a sign of that repentance, with a desire to wash a person of their sins.
Jesus then comes, and offers salvation, the Kingdom of God, for those who repent; not only to believe, but to choose a change of heart. That means we must become become humble and admit we were wrong, in our thoughts and actions. The Kingdom of God is about repentance, not simply belief.
This is why Jesus gave the Church the authority to forgive sins. The Church teaches that we should go to Confession at least once a year, and more often, if we can. I try to go to Confession once each month or two. There is so much Grace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
God’s mercy is universal, even to our enemies, as was the case with Nineveh.
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
If it has been a while since you have gone to Confession, I urge you to go. Do not be afraid of Confession. It’s too important to our eternal life.
Repent.
For the world in its present form is passing away.