By Beth DeCristofaro
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and
announce to it the message that I will tell you.” … Jonah began his journey
through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days
more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” when
the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them,
great and small, put on sackcloth. (Jonah 3:1, 4-5)
The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are
anxious and worried about many things. There
is need of only one thing. Mary has
chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10: 41-42)
Piety
Gentle me, Holy One,
into an unclenched moment,
a deep breath,
a letting go of heavy experiences,
of shriveling anxieties, of dead certainties, that,
softened by the silence, surrounded by the light, and open to the mystery,
I may be found by wholeness upheld by the unfathomable,
entranced by the simple,
and filled with the joy that is you.
into an unclenched moment,
a deep breath,
a letting go of heavy experiences,
of shriveling anxieties, of dead certainties, that,
softened by the silence, surrounded by the light, and open to the mystery,
I may be found by wholeness upheld by the unfathomable,
entranced by the simple,
and filled with the joy that is you.
(Ted Loder from Guerillas
of Grace: Prayers for the Battle)
Study
Perhaps Americans
might consider sackcloth and ashes. Or
at least sitting down as Mary did, letting go of such things as anxieties and
dead certainties, and open to joy filled God mystery. On October 1, the USCCB released a challenge
to Congress to do their work and administer – not impede – the government.
Part of the release
stated: “…The bishops noted that the
Catechism of the Catholic Church says it is the proper role of government to ‘make
accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life, including food,
clothing, health care, education and culture’.
"’In our country today, millions of Americans struggle to meet these basic needs, through no fault of their own, as a result of an economy that continues to fail to create sufficient economic opportunities,’ the bishops wrote. ‘Last year, the poverty rate remained at a 20-year high, over 1 in 5 children lived in poverty, and 49 million Americans were food-insecure at some point.’” They added that 23 million Americans remain unemployed or underemployed.[i]
"’In our country today, millions of Americans struggle to meet these basic needs, through no fault of their own, as a result of an economy that continues to fail to create sufficient economic opportunities,’ the bishops wrote. ‘Last year, the poverty rate remained at a 20-year high, over 1 in 5 children lived in poverty, and 49 million Americans were food-insecure at some point.’” They added that 23 million Americans remain unemployed or underemployed.[i]
Ironically, the
first reading is the story of hard-headed Jonah who might have been very much
at home in our culture of ideological opposition. Jonah, who chose not to follow God’s command
to go to Nineveh the first time had to learn his lesson by being swallowed,
then saved out of a fish’s belly. Following
today’s passage, Jonah would sulk and complain to God that Nineveh was too
quick to listen and did not deserve God’s mercy. His attitude reminds me of so many leaders
and talking heads – in our country and around the world – who say that MY way
is the ONE way and I will not budge even when people’s food, clothing, health
care, education, culture and lives are at stake.
Action
What action can I
take on behalf of those without food, clothing, health care, education or are
isolated, marginalized, demonized?
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