RBWords

     Three preachers speak to us today: Jonah, Paul and Jesus.  There is a sense of urgency in what they all have to say.  Jonah warns Nineveh that if they don't repent within forty days, God will fry them. Paul, writing after Jesus' time, is convinced that Jesus would return soon and that repentance is necessary to get in shape for that second coming.  In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus presents a straightforward message that the time of fulfillment has come and repentance with faith in him is the challenge.

     We know that Nineveh listened to Jonah (the only prophet to have that kind of success).  We know that Jesus was rejected by many, but a small group did get the message and continued the preaching.  We know that by the time of Paul, the message was spreading around the Mediterranean world. From all this the conclusion seems pretty clear that Christian faith requires preachers and repentance!

     When I was a Dominican student brother (seminarian), one of my fellow students had a sign on his door that had large letters reading: REPENT!*  The asterisk pointed to words in smaller print at the botton: "If you have already repented, kindly disregard this message."  Repentance is not just a one time event but a continual process of holding ourselves to account for the way we receive the message of Jesus- how we live it out on a daily basis.  We continually live in the "time of fulfillment."  If we want to live in the kingdom of God, we have to live as if we do.  Jesus would point to Jonah and the Ninehvites as an example to follow.  Baptism gives us the continual power to do as they did.  AMEN