Faith Without Seeing

Second Sunday of Easter – Year B

Acts 4:32-36 / Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 / 1 John 5:1-6 / John 20:19-31

Faith Without Seeing

Often enough we hear people saying they wish they were alive when Jesus walked the earth. If only I could have seen him heal with my own eyes and heard him teach with my own ears, I would really believe in him. When we say this we forget that the Pharisees and other leaders of the people saw him work wonders and still did not come to faith.

People who go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land walk in the footsteps of the historical Jesus. They go to the Jordan where he was baptized by John and see the site of the Sermon on the Mount. They see his birthplace and walk the Way of the Cross. But if they don't have faith before they go, they will not come back with it. If they don't have the gift of faith in Jesus the Risen Lord, no amount of scientific proof, be it an archaeological dig, a burial shroud or a book of the Bible, will convince them. Faith is not an intellectual exercise of proof and belief, but it is a matter of meaning, and is ultimately a matter of love and hope. That may be why moments of tragedy often put our faith to the test. That's also why it's often faith and nothing less that is able to help us through those moments.

We all go through crises of varying intensity: the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a broken marriage. Perhaps we wonder how God could allow such things to happen to us if he really loves us. Perhaps Thomas wondered the same thing as he tried to make sense out of his own master's crucifixion, as he tried to find a reason to hope, a reason to love, a reason to go on living. 

Perhaps it wasn't seeing the wounds in the hands and feet of Christ that brought Thomas to a firmer faith. Maybe it was the look of forgiveness and unconditional acceptance on the face of our Lord that let Thomas know death hadn't swallowed up the one he loved. Rather the light of God had triumphed over the darkness of sin. The love of Christ had conquered the hate of his enemies. Thomas had his day of doubt. He also had a lifetime of faith.

No doubt, we too will have our times of wondering if it’s all true, but John's Gospel is written for us, so that we might believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world. That we might not flee from doubt and crises of meaning, but see in doubt and crises the first step of a deeper faith, a faith not simply in a man who taught well, or healed a few, but in a Lord who is the giver of life.

Blest indeed are they who have not seen, yet believe. Blest are we who believe.

·         What has gotten you through your moments of doubt? Is there a particular encounter with Christ in your life or in scripture that was your moment to believe without seeing?

The Filter of the 'Our Father'

Classic Catholic advice on prayer includes praying an Our Father and a Hail Mary at the beginning and end of the day.  It is some of the basic stuff Mary talked about at La Salette in 1846 - the community I once belonged to keeps the memory of this event alive today. 

What if we used this routine of the most basic (but not simplisitc) of prayers as the filter for our day?  What if the Our Father became a way for us to set our intention for the day? 

Our Father... AM: I raise my awareness or recall that God is with me at every moment. I am loved at every moment. PM: I thank God that he was with me all day, and I recall specific moments in which I was aware or unaware at the time, that God was near.

who art in heaven... AM: I am accountable at every moment according to higher standards than just my wants and needs. PM: How have I been accountable to God's law today?

hallowed be thy name... AM: My life ought to reflect God's holiness. PM: How have I glorified God today?

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven... AM: I ask of each activity today, what is the will of God at this moment?  How shall I conduct myself so as to reflect the presence of God's reign breaking in at this moment? PM: Where did I see God's reign breaking in today? How did I cooperate with God's will or fail to?

Give us this day our daily bread... AM: Dependence on God at every moment. I acknolwedge that I do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. PM: I give thanks to God for all the grace I have been supported by today.

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us... AM: Where are the traps for me today?  What habits do I need to be freed from so I can truly live in the freedom of the children of God? Who will I deal with who I have trouble with?  PM: In addition to God, whose forgiveness do I need from today and for what? Will there be a chance to apolgize and ask forgiveness tomorrow? PM: I ask forgiveness of God for my sins.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil... AM: What situations will pose challenges to my virtuous living today?  How will might I be tempted to take glory, rather than give it to God? For what might I need to fast and pray to remain in God's grace? PM: I thank God for keeping me free from sin and for protecting me from harm, and for helping me to weather the storms that came to my life today.

Stray thoughts on questions Noah raises for me about God

God said to Noah... "I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth." (Gen. 9:8, 11)
No wonder the insurance companies call natural disasters, "Acts of God." It's right there in the Bible. Acts of God are beyond one's comprehension. And while this story of Noah seems to end well - with a new beginning - it is a little unsettling when we consider that the same God who sent a Savior for us, is said to once have send a storm to wipe everyone but eight people away.

Is this how we understand God?  Wiping out most of life as punishment for sin?  Is this an example of the sharp contrast between the First and Second (Old and New) Testaments? 

I can sympathize with Noah's God, however. I have had times when I would have liked to go back and start all over again.  It seems that God wanted to do this when he saw how wicked his human creatures were.  It seems like God had a change of heart at the end.  Did God wish for a do-over? 

Wiping out sin; isn't this what support for capital punishment is about? 

If you knew that someone had a previous history of violence, wouldn't you be on your guard around them?  The story of Noah seems to attribute a history of violence to God.  It also seems to attribute a history of repentance to God.  Is Noah's story about God's repentance?  Is Noah's story about our new beginning? 

I have to admit, I have trouble sorting out the understanding of God in this story.  I usually try to look at it as a God who means no harm to us now. But we only get to that through an avenging God as the starting point of the story.  Did God change?  If so, will God change again? 

Somehow I believe in a God who would not have sent the flood.  I want God's metaphorical flood waters (the waters of baptism) to wash away my sins.  This is where I see the plant to include this story in our Lenten lectionary.  Lent is about preparation to renew our baptismal covenant with God in Christ Jesus. 

As I "appeal to God for a clear conscience" (1 Peter 3:21) I ask you to sit with me in the tension of multiple understandings of God presented in our faith tradition - understandings that sit along side in tension with each other.  And let us consider what those images not only say of God, but also of us.
May God renew his covenant with us each day.

Privilege

In an email I get from Catholic Charities USA, Glenn Leach wrote,
      "According to Isaiah, I must first stop being oppressive to others in action, word and
       speech."
Later in his reflection on the daily readings he prays,
     "Lord, prevent the blessings already given from allowing me to confuse my ways with
     yours." 

Perhaps this Lent we who have privilege (e.g. white, male, Christian, straight - like me) in our society should reflect on our power, and how we might use it to help even the playing field that has been corrupted by history of which we often remain conveniently ignorant.  Perhaps this Lent we could ask God to give us the gift of konwledge, that we may understand the oppression in our land and the systems that make it possible. 

Let us together sing of the God of Justice who knows no favorties!

True Self, False Self? Determined Self, Dynamic Self?

I have been reading a little about Thomas Merton, actually it is James Finley's classic book, Merton's Place of Nowhere. In it Finley describes Merton's conept of the true and the False Self.  As I reflected on this idea of two (or more) selves, I began to wonder if the True Self is set, determined, fixed.  Is there a certain "self" that I should be, a predetermined identity? Or do I create my "self" freely (not totally freely, but within the constraints of what is possible, and more or less likely)?

There are implications for conversion in this consideration.  If I am to turn back to God, it may not involve turning back to a former self, or even to a predetemined version of my self that I have not yet achieved.  But perhaps conversion is about co-creating the self with God, without either of us having a predetermined notion of what that is. 

If conversion is "turning around" is it necessarily "turning back?" As in turning back to a plan (God's presumably) that I abandoned through sin.  Or is it a "turning toward" something predetermined?  Or is it a turning toward a possibilitiy or possibilities for the self I could become?

I apologize for not having this so clearly mapped out for your consideration.  I hope you who read this will comment and we can dialogue.  And in dialoguing, perhaps we come to know Christ better than before (and ourselves as well) which is the point of this blog any way.

Peace, and a Blessed Lent.

Coming to Love What Is Within

As Lent approaches, perhaps we could consider a different kind of penance, than what most traditionally think of.  Perhaps we could pray for the grace to understand, accept and love what is within us.  That may be the true meaning of conversion. 

This might involve asking for forgiveness - for rejecting what we have found inside ourselves - from God and others, and even from ourselves. 

For sure, we are aware of a few things - or more - that we need to repent of, things we keep going back to though we know that they do not contribute to our being our best selves. Maybe those sins flow from the rejection of the wounds and the limitations we all have within us.  Perhaps we are trying to fill the emptiness within with something that cannot fill it.

Prepare the way!
I know - that's the cry of Advent.
Perhaps in Lent we can listen to this cry as: "Prepare the way of the cross. Prepare the way of bearing the burden that is myself - a burden that Christ in his mercy makes lighter and easier.

Now is the moment.  This day there is salvation - in acceptance of the sinner, and healing for the sin.

Knowing God

Laurence Freeman writes, "We know God not by thought, but by love."

This is so true, but is it really any different with our neighbor?  Once again, the unity of the love of God and the love of neighbor is Christianity's truest pearl. 

As often as you did it for the least of my sisters and brothers, you did it for me.

Have you...?

Have you allowed God to love you lately?
Have you let his love seep in?
It's better than you can imagine.

No agenda

We often pray for things, or for encouragement or guidance in some situation or other,
but there is a prayer that is simply
to love God
with no agenda,
to love God
because
God is God
because
God is love.

To Love God

When I say "I love you, my God," do I really know what it means?

Love

Love and do what you will. - Augustine of Hippo.

But do we know what it means to love?

Forever and Ever Moment by Moment

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Genesis 17:3-9 / Psalm 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 / John 8:51-59

Forever and Ever Moment by Moment

The next time you watch a television program count the seconds for each camera shot. You’ll probably find that the maximum amount of time any one shot is used is about seven seconds. Most of the time what you see changes every three seconds or less – commercials have even briefer time frames. A half hour program is typically divided into seven minute segments between commercial breaks. Whether these programming tendencies are based on studies of the human attention span, or our attention span has become less durable because of these tendencies I do not know.

It seems to me that in a culture of such short blips of information and entertainment, the concept of forever can be hard to comprehend. Yet forever is how long God will be faithful to us (quite astounding) and forever is how long we must respond to God’s faithful covenanting with us (quite challenging). With our short attention span – innate or conditioned – how can we hope to be faithful to a forever commitment?

First, our commitment is a response to God’s commitment. God’s commitment empowers our response. And with God all things are possible – including a faithful response to God’s forever love. Second, the psalmist today tells us “Look to the Lord in his strength, seek to serve him constantly.” Constantly could be looked at as moment by moment. Thus even our ever-shifting focus of attention can be a way to be faithful to God. Each time our focus of attention changes, we can look for God and a new way of serving him, or a new place to find him.

·        Place your attention on an object near you. Think of everything it means to you, or the varied or dedicated ways you use this object. Does this object connect you to God? How?  Next, for a few seconds, focus on another object. Then after a few seconds, focus on the first object again, but let all its meaning and uses fall away, and see the object again as if for the first time. After a suitable amount of time offer that object to God from your heart.

Like Father, Like Son

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Isaiah 49:8-15 / Psalm 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18 / John 5:17-30

Like Father, Like Son

Can you picture a little boy clunking around the house in work boots several sizes too big for him with a toy tool belt falling around his knees? He grabs a block and drives an imaginary nail into it with his plastic hammer. He’s seen his dad do something like this before. He wants to be just like him when he grows up — for now at least.

Jesus never grew out of this love for his Father’s work. In today’s gospel reading from John we conclude with a verse that could make one feel helpless, but when properly understood, actually explains what it truly means to be powerful. It turns what seems like subservience into true empowerment. It is the power of imitation that is beyond flattery; a power that saves.

“I cannot do anything on my own…” (John 5:30) seems like what a mere child would say, rather than the words of a thirty year old. It can seem like the self-pitying thought of a patient confined to a hospital bed waiting for the nurse to arrive and help with simple daily needs that others accomplish under their own power and take for granted. It does not seem like the words of a Savior or the Son of God. But this capable Son remains totally dependent and in strictest conformity with his Father’s will — so great is his love for his Father.

Perhaps the words “I cannot do anything on my own…” really mean, “I can’t imagine doing anything on my own. I don’t want to do anything apart from my Father.” Jesus always has the will of his Father in mind. Perhaps we choose to sin because we do not delight in the will of the Father as much as Jesus did.

·         Some people practice their religious faith because they want to have good things in their life, and be protected by God, not because the will of their Heavenly Father is their all-consuming passion. Reflect on your own reasons for practicing your faith: Why do you want to develop your relationship with your Heavenly Father? In developing this relationship, are you trying to take his will as your own?

Lourdes and Bethesda

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 / Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9 / John 5:1-16

Lourdes and Bethesda

In the 150-plus years since Our Lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes there are less than 70 miracles at that site which have been authenticated by the Church. One might wonder what the record of the pool at Bethesda would be, with or without rigorous modern criteria. For Lourdes that’s one authenticated miracle every two years or so. Who can wait that long? Who could guarantee it would be me if I did wait? I might be left thinking, “It’s always someone else who gets there at the right time.”

The passage from John’s gospel makes it clear that the man at the pool of Bethesda had been sick a long time — thirty-eight years. Who knows how many of those years he had spent waiting and hoping by the pool of Bethesda? He had been sick since before Jesus was born of Mary. Fortunately for the man at Bethesda he did not have to time his arrival at the pool just right for healing. Healing came to him unexpected, probably just when he’d gotten used to disappointment.

·        In what situation in your life have you given up hope? Imagine Jesus questioning you about it. What might he say? How do you respond? What might be the miracle to change you in regard to this situation?

Countering "Enlightened" Disinterest

Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Daniel 9:4b-10 / Psalm 79:8, 9, 11 and 13 / Luke 6:36-38

Countering “Enlightened” Disinterest

The popular expression, “Live and let live” is not Christian. It is not the fulfillment of Jesus’ saying, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.”

“Live and let live,” can lead to a “look the other way” mentality. Don’t complain about someone else, or correct someone else and they will let you alone too. The focus of Jesus’ teaching is not about our neighbors’ judgment being withheld; it is about God’s judgment being withheld. Here Jesus is not teaching us to act as we’d have others act toward us, but as we’d have God act toward us. 

The teaching is not “Live and let live.” It is treat others with God’s compassion. “Live and let live” is “enlightened” disinterest in one’s neighbors. “Be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful” is enlightened interest in them. The first says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” The second says, “If you want to be blessed, be a blessing.”

·        Toward whom are you judgmental? Why? Try to look at that person through God’s merciful eyes. What is the difference in the view? What gets in your way? Speak to God about it. Pray for the good of the person you have judged.

Staring Out at 75

Sunday of the Second Week of Lent – Year A

Genesis 12:1-4 / Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 / 2 Timothy 1:8-10 / Matthew 17:1-9

Starting Out at 75

At what age will you have arrived? At 75 most people believe that what was going to happen in their lifetime has pretty much happened. Some of us believe that the time to set out for our goals and accomplishments is twenty-five or so. Some of us believe by thirty or forty we have "arrived" at the person we are to become.

Abram was seventy-five when the Lord came to him. At seventy-five we figure we have seen the landscape, and there is not much more is to be expected. But for Abram 75 was the beginning. 75 is when he heard the call: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.” In other words, “Leave the heritage your father Terah left to you and go to… well, you’ll know the place when you get there. I'll make a great nation of you out of nothing."

When most people are making sure their wills are all in order, and hoping Social Security and their 401k are enough, Abram and Sarai were packing up all the earthly belongings that could fit onto their camels, and heading out into the desert to become wandering Arameans. What’s more, they were an elderly, childless couple, and probably resigned to it by then. What great nation could come from them? What blessing could be found in their barrenness? But at 75 things were just beginning for Abram and Sarai.

Yet it would take twenty-five more years for the promise to even begin to take shape. By that time, Abram had reached the century mark, and Sarai his wife was probably not much younger than he, 99 perhaps. When she heard a visitor telling her husband he’d be back next year and Sarai would be “with child,” she laughed. Wouldn’t we all? Pregnant at 99! It’s the stuff you read about only in the National Inquirer and the Bible.

Perhaps Sarai’s laughter was nervous laughter. Perhaps she laughed rather than just tearing through the tent flap and shouting at the man for taunting her and reminding her of her enduring barrenness. How dare he bring that up! She and her husband had put all that behind them now. They had addressed the issue with the surrogate mother, Hagar, who had made the most of her fertility by lording it over Sarai. Perhaps Sarai was afraid of pregnancy at this point, afraid of becoming a mother, afraid of being blessed.

If we received our first promise or calling at 75, would we be willing to begin a journey then? Would we be willing to wait 25 years for the first sign of the promise being for real? Today God calls us to a journey, but are we afraid of the risk it requires? Abram’s was a journey of faith and trust. Usually when we prepare for a journey, be it a vacation or a business trip, we are in control of the destination, the route and the means to get there. On the Christian journey of discipleship we don't have this kind of control. We must surrender to God in trust: we must "listen to him," as the gospel of the Transfiguration tells us.

·         In your relationship with the Lord, do you feel you have arrived, or that you are just setting out?

·         Is God calling you to leave what is familiar to you (responsibilities, ministries, patterns of behavior) to do something new in accordance with his will?

·         Do you have the faith of Abram, the faith to wait a long time to see God’s promise come to fruition?

Peculiar Meaning

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Deuteronomy 26:16-19 / Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8 / Matthew 5:43-48

Peculiar Meaning

Peculiar is a peculiar word. It is rarely used, so it sounds peculiar when we hear it. Its modern usage normally denotes something odd or unusual. Sometimes a family, a group or a culture has an expression that is peculiar or unique to it, i.e. others don’t use the word that way. Sometimes a person’s habits are said to be peculiar, i.e. most people don’t do it that way.

The word peculiar as used in today’s reading from Deuteronomy is very faithful to its Latin root, peculiaris, which means “as one’s own.” Hence the English translation renders this verse, “peculiarly his own” thus avoiding implications of oddity.

The Jewish people are uniquely God’s people. God’s election of the Jews does not void his unconditional and universal love for all nations and all creation, but is a sign singling out the Jews as God’s covenanted people, so as to draw others to God through them.

In verse 26:19 Moses says to this people, “You will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God…”  When people today say something is sacred to them, they usually mean that they hold it in high esteem. They would not stand for it to be mistreated, or spoken ill of. Because they are a people sacred to the Lord, God demonstrated by his mighty deeds in the Exodus event that he would not stand for the Jews to be mistreated. What’s more, when God took action as the redeemer who chose them, they responded by choosing God in return, and dedicated themselves to him. And in that dedication, that covenantal relationship, the Lord promises to raise them “high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made…” Not for the glory of Israel, but for the glory of God, and to draw all people to the Lord. Truly the Jews are to this day peculiarly God’s own.

·        Our Catholic tradition has a long history of prayers of consecration in many devotional forms. Write your own prayer of consecration to God. 

·        Reflect for a moment on the words of today’s reading: “sacred to the Lord.” Apply that expression to yourself. Are you thinking, feeling, acting, and viewing your circumstances in life through the lens of being “sacred to the Lord?” Does that lens change your view of life?

·        Consider the tensions between religious traditions today: Ask God to give you an understanding of and a love for your neighbors of different faiths, and think about how you might be able to reach out to understand more deeply what your neighbor’s faith means to them. Share the importance of your faith in Christ with them respectfully.

Why Settle Out of Court?

Friday of the First Week of Lent

Ezekiel 18:21-28 / Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8 / Matthew 5:20-26

Why Settle Out of Court?

Laws aim at protecting rights. Holiness aims higher.

When Jesus says, “Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court,” he is not telling us to avoid legal procedures. He is returning to the themes of forgiveness, repentance and reparation. Christians should not need to be forced to be just by a law, we should be fair instinctively.

Jesus’ teaching here is not about getting away cheaply because we fear that the sentence of the court would be harsher than a plea bargain. It’s not about avoiding costly litigation. It’s about doing what is right, not because we are told to, but because we know it’s the right thing to do. 

Jesus is saying when you have not done the right thing in the first instance, do the right thing at the next opportunity, even if you have to create that opportunity. 

In Jesus’ eyes, an initial wrong is compounded by the need to force one of his followers to do what’s right. Doing the right thing should be part and parcel of our modus operandi – preferably sooner, but later if need be. We should be characterized by doing what is right as well as by righting the wrongs we have done. 

·        Steps eight and nine of the Twelve Steps of Recovery read as follows:

o   Step 8: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

o Step 9: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

·        Pick one or two people you have wronged and consider how you might make amends to them. Decide if it would be helpful to make direct amends in word or deed. Be careful that you will not do more harm than good in making amends.

·        Consider how our society is structured: Who is disadvantaged? Is there a way you can work to right that wrong and correct that injustice?

Pray Because God Wants to Answer

Thursday of the First Week of Lent

Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25 / Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8 / Matt. 7:7-12

Pray Because God Wants to Answer

We know that prayer is part of our Lenten discipline, but do we stop to think why it is part of that discipline? The gospel today says: “Ask… Seek… Knock...” Why?  Usually we ask, seek or knock because we want to receive, find or enter. But there is another reason to ask, seek and knock in the case of prayer.

It’s not only because we are in need, but also because God wants us to receive from him. God wants us to be found by him. God wants us to enter into his home – our hearts. Know when you ask, seek or knock that you have a willing response, and do it often this Lent and always.

·        Reflect on the disposition you bring to prayer when you are asking God for something.

            Do you ask like a beggar happy to get whatever scraps fall from the table?

           Do you ask like a child who is tugging relentlessly at her mother’s skirt:

                      “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy…?”

          Do you ask like you deserve or have paid for what you desire?

          Do you feel like you have to manipulate God to give to you?

         Would you rather steal it than ask for it?

         Is there a better description than these possibilities?

        How does the disposition that you take in “asking prayer” compare to the disposition Jesus advocates?

The Sign of Jonah Reinterpreted

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

Jonah 3:1-10 / Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19 / Luke 11:29-32

                                                                             

The Sign of Jonah Reinterpreted

What was the “sign of Jonah” Jesus was referring to? So often we think of the connection between the three days Jonah spent in the belly of the great fish and the three days Jesus spent in the tomb. But is there another way to look at it?

At the preaching of Jonah the people of Nineveh repented. They were a people who were thought to be beyond hope, under the condemnation of the Lord. Yet when they heard their sentence, they held on to hope. They did not despair. With all their heart they turned back to the Lord. They covered themselves in ashes and sackcloth, and turned to the Lord. Mission accomplished. Not destruction, but repentance; sinners reconciled with God.

The sign of Jonah might be that the hearts of those thought to be condemned were turned back to God. This was the sign that Jesus gave. He came as a shepherd in search of lost sheep. He came as a doctor for the sick. And those who were at the brink of destruction came back to God. And certainly he rose from the dead, like Jonah from the belly of the whale, but what for? So that we might rise from these ashes and return to God.

The sign of hearts converted is what Lent is all about: a season in which we cover ourselves with ashes and sackcloth, in order to express our sorrow for sin and return to the way God has traced out for us. It is a time to renew our first love, a time to turn away from sin, a time to admit our need for the doctor, the healer, the shepherd.

Be part of the sign given to this generation. Turn back to God. Show this generation how merciful the Lord our God is by turning to his mercy and imploring others to do the same. 

·        Picture two scenes:

(1) Picture yourself sitting near the seashore not far from Nineveh. All of the sudden a big fish comes up and spews forth a man from its belly onto the shore. Use your imagination to interact with Jonah: What do you say to each other? How will this affect your life? Your Lent?

(2) Now picture yourself in the streets of Nineveh as Jonah (cleaned up a little from the trip in the fish) walks by and shouts: “Forty days more, and Nineveh will be destroyed.” How will this affect your life? Your Lent?