WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OCTOBER 6, 2021

MASS READINGS

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Jonah Jon 4:1-11

Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. He prayed, “I beseech you, LORD, is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish. And now, LORD, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the LORD asked, “Have you reason to be angry?” Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it, where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. And when the LORD God provided a gourd plant that grew up over Jonah’s head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort, Jonah was very happy over the plant. But the next morning at dawn God sent a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind; and the sun beat upon Jonah’s head till he became faint. Then Jonah asked for death, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.” But God said to Jonah, “Have you reason to be angry over the plant?” “I have reason to be angry,” Jonah answered, “angry enough to die.” Then the LORD said, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?”

REFLECTION

But the Lord asked “Have you reason to be angry?”

A smile here, a controlled manner there, doesn't allow others to see the hurts, emotions or at times the loss of hope in a world so rich in grace and beauty. Illness can be frightful for the patient but as well to the family who loves that person.

Because He loved us we are redeemed. Could one be like St Francis of Assisi sacrificing all for the love of Christ? Would my love for myself or anyone be like the love of God? Would I be a better person if I knew how much He loves me, for it’s in giving do I know the cost of the gift, the cost of the sacrifice.

God knows the secrets of our hearts. He knows why He allows illness amidst a panoply of prayers. Though our crosses may be big and heavy, aligning ourselves to God should give us no reason to be angry. May we know His will and grow in grace.

It is God who saved us and to Him we will ever praise!

Through illness one realizes that "life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived". (Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, archbishop of Louisville and head of National Catholic Partnership on Disability)

Have faith and always trust in God your Father.

God Bless You