Wednesday of Week 27 in Ordinary Time
Jon 4:1–11
Lk 11:1-4
“But the Lord asked, “Have you reason to be angry?””
How many of us know someone like Jonah? Despite being almost 3,000 years ago, it appears that human character has changed little. Jonah sounds like a child throwing his toys out of his pram, just because he does not have his way. When he realizes that God is not going to destroy Nineveh, he goes off in a huff to sit on a hillside to sulk, waiting to see what will happen to the city. Then he throws a tantrum when the plant that sheltered him withers and dies. So blinded is he by his self-entitlement and anger that he has allowed it to cloud his better judgement. As American writer Robert Ingersoll once said, “Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind”. On two occasions, Jonah was so angry at God’s compassion towards the people of Nineveh that he would rather die, forgetting that God had already saved him on two other occasions. He believes that Nineveh is not worthy of God’s salvation, yet lacks self-awareness that he too had disobeyed God by running away.
Ironically, while in the belly of the fish, Jonah had prayed, “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me…. I have been banished from your sight, yet I will look again toward your holy temple.” When the people of Nineveh heard God’s message, they called onto God even though it seemed that their wickedness had banished them from God’s sight. They did exactly what Jonah had prayed when he sought forgiveness and mercy from God. Perhaps he thought (as humans do), that his sin was ‘lesser’ than Nineveh, and therefore more deserving of God’s mercy.
God’s forgiveness is for everyone who repents and turns to Him. There is no ‘sin-o-meter’, there is only God’s mercy. Jonah possessed self-entitlement, which blocks out compassion for others, making it hard for him to understand the depth of God’s mercy. His attitude to Ninevah suggests his belief that blessings are a right, not a privilege from God. Remember the story of the Prodigal Son, and how the father rejoiced at the return of his lost son, which angered the older son? If Jonah had set aside his personal prejudices, he might have understood that Nineveh’s repentance should have been a cause for celebration, not a case for retribution. As humans, it is hard to rein in our anger sometimes, but as James 1:20 says, “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Do we then want to see red, or see God?
(Today’s Oxygen by Annette Soo)
Prayer: Lord, You are slow to anger and merciful indeed. We, on the other hand, struggle to keep our anger from spilling over. Our society seems to be filled with angry people and situations, further fanning the flames of dissatisfaction. We pray for self-control in times of anger, to walk away and walk to you. There is a saying: “If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.” Help us please to be patient in our anger.
Thanksgiving: Thank you, Lord, for Your unending mercy and compassion. We are not worthy of it, yet You still hear us. In our distress, we call out to You and You answer us. Thank you.
OXYGEN 
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