But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. Jonah 4:1 It’s all too easy to judge Jonah. Easy also to declare that, because all anger is at its heart a desire to be in the place of God, it should simply respond to a biblical rebuke and go away. Seeing anger thisContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 16”
Category Archives: Advent
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 15
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. Jonah 3:10 This should really be where the book of Jonah finishes. And in many children’s bible versions, it does finish here. The narrative arc of the disobedientContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 15”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 14
This is the proclamation [the king] issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them giveContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 14”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 13
The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Jonah 3:5-6 One thing that hasContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 13”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 12
The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. Jonah 3:5 Advent may not seem to be a time for sackcloth. For those who know the church calendar, it might seem more logical to think about repentance in Lent. But historically Advent andContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 12”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 11
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey intoContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 11”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 10
“What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:9b-10 And here we arrive at the point that the children’s bibles are always leading: Jonah leaving the fish for dry land and “making good” what he has “vowed”. YetContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 10”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 9
“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord,and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Jonah 2:7 It’s extraordinary how long we can try to live disconnected from the source of life. One of the things I value about Jesuit spirituality is the way it leads us to identify the sourcesContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 9”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 8
From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas,Continue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 8”
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 7
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. Jonah 1:17-2:1 There’s a line from Shakespeare’s Macbeth that has particularly held on to me since I first read itContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 7”
The Consolations of Writing 