Ordinary Time
January 16, 2018

Scripture Reading: Jonah 3:1-6, 10

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
–Jonah 3:10

We can take great comfort in God who forgives and sends the Spirit to help us out of the muddles, in which we find ourselves.

My favorite movie of all times is The Mission. * Based on the true experiences of a Jesuit priest and a slaver in 1740. The priest was sent to Argentina and the western Paraguayan jungle to bring Christ to that area; the slaver was there to capture natives and sell them for a profit.  It is a complex tale of a corrupt church with a dedicated servant and a scoundrel of a man touched by the Lord through the priest.

My favorite scene in the movie is when the priest forgives the slaver and gives him the penance of climbing a rugged mountainside with all his armor in a sack tied to his body. I am not into penance necessarily, but my experience suggests that at times when someone has sinned in a way in which they cannot forgive themselves, it sometimes helps for them to physically and mentally enact their repentance through some ordeal. My preference is service to others. The slaver realized his forgiveness at the top of the mountain when with his energy spent, he came face to face with a native child holding a hatchet ready to strike. The man was vulnerable to what I am sure he thought was certain death when the child slams the hatchet down with all his might cutting the rope that held the heavy load of armor on the slaver’s back. As the sack and its contents tumble down the mountainside, the child, which the slaver would have formerly viewed as a source of profit, helps the slaver make the last push up and over the mountains edge. The story does not end well for any of the protagonists, but I think the last scene strongly suggests that God eternally planted hope in the hearts of the surviving natives.

We too live in a complex world full of bigotry and sexual harassment, poverty sapping the life out of children and adults, greed and lust for power and on and on. We too worship the same forgiving God who can and will make all things new, if we turn around and follow his Son’s example and message of love.

Prayer: Lord, take away the armor of the world with which we protect ourselves from fully knowing you. Forgive us of our sins, show us your path everlasting and walk with us throughout our lIfe journeys. Amen.

*For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mission_(1986_film),

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.