Jonah (Yônah) was one of the prophets during the reign of Jeroboam II (587-536 BC). The short book of Jonah, with only four chapters, presents us with the prophet’s main mission: “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and tell it that its wickedness has come up before me” (cf. Jonah, 1:1-2).
The prophet understood God’s will perfectly: he was to go to Nineveh, the city of Assyria, and prophesy about sincere repentance. However, Jonah didn’t want to carry out the mission to which he had been called.
After receiving the mission to announce conversion to the people of Nineveh, Jonah tried to go the other way, to Tarshish (Jonah, 1:3). However, while he was trying to escape God’s will, the crew of the boat he was on ran into a strong storm. Seeing the danger of the situation, the men believed that someone was to blame for God’s wrath and decided to cast lots to find out who it was. Jonah knew the reason for the storm: their unfaithfulness to the Lord.
So, in order to save the lives of those men, he asked to be thrown into the sea (a symbol of death, the unknown, the dark). After the prophet was thrown into the sea, the storm stopped. Without knowing it, Jonah converted the sailors, who made vows of obedience to Yahweh.
The story goes on to tell us that at the bottom of the sea, Jonah was swallowed by a large fish, where he stayed for three days and three nights. During that time, in the silence, Jonah had time to reflect on his behavior and to repent. He turned his heart to God in prayer and the Lord listened to him. God is always with us and always listens to us! God was with Jonah, and that’s why the big fish spat the prophet out onto solid ground.
ANNOUNCERS OF MERCY
After being saved by God, the Lord again asks Jonah to go to Nineveh and this time the prophet obeys. He doesn’t do it gladly or with a sincere heart. Nevertheless, he did do God’s will and, arriving in Nineveh, he called for repentance and announced that the city would be destroyed if they didn’t turn to God (cf. Jonah 3:4).
To his surprise, the people accepted his request-even the king “took off his cloak, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down on the ashes” (Jonah, 3:6)-and converted. Jonah was not happy with the city’s conversion and God’s compassion, as he would have preferred it to be destroyed. He complained to God and wished for death (cf. Jonah, 4:2-3). But then he understood his contradiction and God’s loving designs. God’s mercy is for “everyone, everyone, everyone,” Pope Francis said at World Youth Day in Lisbon.
DECISION FOR MISSION
Like Jonah, Peter, a young man from Vietnam, made a journey of conversion to get out of himself and give himself to the service of God and the mission. He shares his vocational experience with us.
“My name is Tran Minh Thong, although my baptismal name is Peter. I was born in Vietnam on All Saints’ Day 1993. I was the last of six siblings and my family welcomed me with a lot of love. My childhood was wonderful. Like all families, mine also had wounds, and, in the Vietnamese cultural context, being the youngest, I had no say or vote in the decisions my family made.”
“When I started high school, my friends and I became addicted to gambling. I spent money, wasted time, neglected my health and lost myself in the virtual world. During those years, I didn’t worry about my future, all I thought about was playing and being on the internet. My life was meaningless and unmotivated.”
“However, I felt a strange energy, like a voice whispering inside me. I started taking part in the Pro-Life Movement, which defends life from the womb, and also in the Charismatic Movement. For the first time, I experienced that God is alive and close to me. One day, praying in a corner of my room, I said: ‘I want to offer my life for the mission in Africa.’”
“It was no coincidence that I met a Comboni missionary, and as I read the testimonies he sent me, my love for the mission grew. Eventually, I joined the Comboni community in Saigon (Vietnam), where my second life began. It was like finding a life jacket in a turbulent sea. I thirsted for an orderly, healthy, and values-oriented life, because I was aware that I had thrown away a lot of time and had to recover what I had lost.”
“After several years of formation in the Philippines, I made my first religious profession and consecrated my life to the Lord for the mission. Now I’m in Spain continuing my formation.”
