Sunday 21 January 2024

Today is Sunday the 21st of January, beginning the third week of Ordinary time.


The monks of Pluscarden Abbey sing the Benedictus: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people and redeemed them. He has raised up for us a mighty saviour in the house of David his servant, as he promised by the lips of holy men, those who were his prophets from of old. A saviour who would free us from our foes, from the hands of all who hate us.

Today’s reading is from the Prophet Jonah.

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

This, we’re told from the outset, is the second time that Jonah has been told to go and speak to the people of Nineveh. Put yourself in Jonah’s shoes for a minute. What’s holding you back from doing as God asks?

Nineveh’s clearly a big place! What kind of place in the city might Jonah choose to begin his proclamation? Where would you choose, if you got a mission like this today?

The message Jonah gives, as recorded here, is both challenging and uncompromising. What would it be like to have to deliver a message like this?

As you hear the passage again, notice the immediate response of the people of Nineveh, and imagine what Jonah would have made of this.

In these last moments of this time of prayer, remember times when you have heard God speaking powerfully, though scripture or in other ways. How did you respond? How would you want to respond now?

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.