For nothing is impossible with God…Now go!

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from the Book of Jonah how God “convinced” Jonah to do what he was born to do - Be the instrument that turns the great and sinful city of Nineveh back to the God of their ancestors….Think about it for a second - Just think about this “ask” - How could one man convert an entire city?….When we consider this task in human terms, which is our first mistake, the request becomes overwhelming….However, when we ponder what was asked of Jonah through the grace and power of God - No big deal!…God created the entire world from nothing…Why can’t he convert a city?….Jonah when he was first approached by God to bring the message of repentance to Nineveh - He ran away - He thought it could not be done!…And we all know how that ended up…God pursued him - He knew he “had the right guy” and made Jonah “an offer he could not refuse” in the belly of a whale…Jonah reconsidered and as a result, Nineveh converted….”Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. 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. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles:"Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water……….When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out”……Who would have thought?….Jonah in his wildest imagination would not have imagined that such an event could have taken place - But it did…And the same thing can happen today……All our troubles stem from our society turning from God - This is the root cause of all our issues….But hope is not lost and God has not forgotten his people….Where is “Our Jonah”?….Maybe it’s YOU!…And if it is - Will YOU take God at his word and “go into the great city” and proclaim a fast….Calling the people back…..Healing the sick….Bringing comfort and peace to the lost and forgotten….Would you go? - If you were asked by God himself?….I got news for you - YOU are asked….Now go!

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”

In 2009 my pastor in Lyndhurst New Jersey agreed to adopt a poor parish on the outskirts of Kolkata, India…..At the time I was traveling regularly to that part of the world every December…When I told Mother Teresa’s sisters the news, one Sunday morning the sisters brought me to a small village on the outskirts of the city…....The people there were extraordinarily poor…..There was a Catholic Church in this village where we all attended Mass….The Church was run down and desperately in need of repair…..I spoke with the priest and he told me their weekly collection was equivalent to ten US dollars, which was not going to cover the repairs that needed be be done….So the task was impossible - Right?….Wrong!….Over the next 10 years, from a small poor box in the back of my parish Church in New Jersey and with the approval of my pastor, we raised around $40,000 US dollars, which is a significant amount of money in Indian Rupees…..The pastor in Kolkata was so happy, they changed the name of their parish, renaming it after my parish in Lyndhurst New Jersey - St Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church….Why bring this miracle up?……Today we heard about an impossible “ask” from God….To convert an enter city, a city steeped in sin….And Jonah was like - “No way - Not me - Can’t be done”…….God disagreed! - And Nineveh experienced a miracle….Now think about what happened at this very poor Indian Church…They were collecting a meager $40 US dollars a month…Clearly not enough to sustain a parish of around 500 people…But look at what God did?…..He did the impossible - Just like that!…..A strange man (Me - being from New Jersey - I am as “strange as it gets”) shows up from a distant land out of no where - And the needed money appears - Just like that!…….So again, why bring this up?….Because God can do the impossible and still does the impossible to this day! - For those who study history, we know that when times get tough, when there seems to be no hope - God always rises up someone who will face what needs to be addressed - Like Jonah today in the first reading from Mass…..Who will be the next Jonah?….If it was YOU - Would you run away? - Or would you “step up” to the task at hand?

"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.”

Today we read how Jonah was given an impossible task….He himself doubted it could be done….Yet it happened - The great city of Nineveh repented of its evil ways and turned back to God…Notice, even when Jonah doubted God and ran away from what was asked of him - God knew he “had the right guy” - And he pursued Jonah, who needed a little “encouragement” - The same goes for us….God calls us to do the impossible - We simply have to believe it can be done - Not because of our gifts and talents but because God himself will empower us…God uses the small and the weak of the world to shame the powerful…The more we as Catholics empty ourself, the more God will fill us with his Holy Spirit….Do you understand just how powerful God really is? - Because if you did, you too would be eager to allow him to use you….By ourself we can do nothing, but when we graft our life to “the vine” - All things are possible…..”Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you” - “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”……..”Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm”….For nothing is impossible with God…Now go!……………JMJ

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