Jonah 3:1-10
Luke 11:29-32
Alexander Schmemann has written,
“The basic disease is sloth. It is that strange laziness and passivity of our entire being which always pushes us 'down' rather than 'up'--which constantly convinces us that no change is possible and therefore desirable.
“It is in fact a deeply rooted cynicism which to every spiritual challenge responds 'what for?' and makes our life one tremendous spiritual waste. It is the root of all sin because it poisons the spiritual energy at its very source.”
Thomas Merton has written,
“The true self-denial of the Christian is not a conquest of self by self, but a dying to self in order to live to God in Christ. This is the great question that preoccupied St. Paul—the problem of seeking salvation by the works of the law instead of by grace.
“Our salvation is not to be found in asceticism alone but in the cross of Christ. Self-denial, however rigorous, lacks all Christian meaning apart from the cross and resurrection of Christ.
“This is why Lent is a season of mortification and renouncement: not just because Christians discovered that a little fasting in springtime was good for their constitutions, but because their fasts, renunciations and almsdeeds had an essential part to play as signs of a full participation in the Easter Mystery.”
Madeleine L'Engle has written,
“There is only one purpose for punishment, and that is to teach a lesson. And there is only one lesson to be taught, and that is love. Perfect love banishes fear; and when we are not afraid, we know that love which includes forgiveness.
“When the lesson to be learned is not love, that is not punishment; it is revenge or retribution. Probably the lesson of love is the most terrible punishment of all—an almost intolerable anguish—for it means that the sinner has to realize what has been done, has to be truly sorry, to repent, to turn to God. And most of us are too filled with outrage at rape and murder to want the sinner to repent. We want the sinner to feel terrible, but not to turn to God and be made whole and be forgiven.
“And so we show that we do not know the meaning of forgiveness any more than Jonah did in his vindictive outrage at the people of Nineveh.”
Elie Wiesel has written,
“Teshuva [in Hebrew, repentance, from shuva, 'to turn'] means an act of consciousness, of awareness, of willingness to take sides and responsibility for the future. One cannot modify the past, but one is given the power to shape the future.
“It all depends on individuals and the community; they can, if they wish, foil destiny and celebrate free choice. The lesson in Jonah is that nothing is written, nothing is sealed: God's will itself may change. Even though punishment has been programmed, it may be cancelled. Therein lies the beauty and the grandeur of Jewish tradition: Every human being is granted one more chance, one more opportunity to start life all over again. Just as God has the power to begin, we have the power to continue by beginning again—and again.”
Posted by John
at 12:01 AM CST
