TSOME NENEWIE
THE NINIVITES’ FASTING
(Feb 13, 14 and 15, 2006)
DAY
ONE |
DAY TWO | DAY THREE
According to the Geez Rite tradition, two weeks
before the fasting of the Great Lent the Church prescribes a three
day fasting in memory of the fasting of the Ninivites following
the preaching of the prophet Jonah. The goal of this spiritual
exercise is for all the faithful to intercede for their country
so that a conversion of the heart takes place starting from the
public authorities down to the last citizen. It seems that this
particular fast is not practiced in other Churches or Rites. In
particular, for members of the Geez Rites living in an environments
where fasting is not given much consideration, work and social
demands demand so much stress and distractions that physical fast
seem impossible to practice with the rigor of our native place,
one would be tempted of ignoring this particular fast as outmoded
and a useless remnant of the past. An attentive reading of the
book of Jonah, however, will give us insights of the meaning of
such a particular fast even in our own days and in our very circumstances.
It is, therefore, strongly recommendable in this period to read,
study and meditate on the book of Jonah, the prophet. It is a very
short book, just two pages and it takes barely ten minutes to read
it. But it is very reach and its depth can nourish our spiritual
needs and motivate our decisions.
Leaving it to other times and other places the task of a thorough
study of the book, let us limit to list a few points for our spiritual
nourishment:
- God
speaks to his people even today. It is his compassion for
his people
that moves God to call Jonah to this particular ministry.
God loves his people and has plans of salvation for them
even today, because even today after the redeeming mission
of Christ,
the whole world is still involved in a great sin. “God
sent his only Son into the world not to condemn the world but
to save it” is the great mission statement of Christ, and “Go
to the whole world and preach the Gospel teaching them to obey
all my commandments” is his great mission commandment
to every Christian. God wants to reach every Christian
directly,
personally and in a way pertinent to his real situation
through the Jonahs of today. Ours is present God, not a
historical God
nor a God in the clouds.
- God
needs prophets to his people even today. Jonah is not a
particularly
outstanding “holy” man. Quite the opposite.
Yet God chooses him personally and does not let him go
before he delivers his message to the Ninivites.
- Jonah
is hidden in each one of us, even today. There is that
reluctance
that we cover up with apparently spiritual excuses.
Jonah might have been motivated by “political” excuses
to justify his position: Niniveh represented the oppressing superpower
of his time, to be instrumental in sparing them God’s wrath
could be interpreted as siding against the interests of his own
people. Besides Niniveh was so far away while other places much
closer were equally in need of the divine message. But also,
why Jonah and not others well known and already accepted messangers
contemporaries of him? So he/we run away, hide from our mission,
and if forced to perform the tasks we perform it the way we have
planned it. God must side with “us” even if this
may look as if he is against “them”.
- God’s word is powerful even today. “Christ is the
same yesterday, today and tomorrow” Jonah’s message
is brief and not exactly what was meant to be, but the result
were beyond any expectation. Definitely not because of Jonah
but because of the power of the Holy Spirit working in Jonah. “These
are the miracles which will accompany your preaching: They will
cast out demons, speak new languages, hold serpents, poison will
not harm them, …” *Mk 16: 16-18)
- National
disasters call for national conversion. In today’s
world it is appearing more and more apparent that new phenomena
such as desertification of the southern emisphere, avian
flu, AIDS epidemics can be controlled only at a worldwide
level. The
same applies to the spiritual epidemics.
- Countries
are under God’s protection and care. They
are therefore expected to respond to his love with the same
attention. Even though in contemporary society national authorities
are expected to take into account the diversity of expression
of beliefs, still they cannot ignore God. Secularism cannot
imply neglect or worse denial of God and power. There cannot
be a split between belief and political decisions in a believing
politician. Politics also is a ministry of God’s care
for today world. Politicians in fact have Jonah’s mission
more than many others. They are in a position of calling
for God’s intervention in particular difficult
situations through the prayer, fasting of the citizens.
And prayer together
with the conversion of the heart is very powerful.
- The
Ninivites proved they had converted by turning
away from their sins and evil ways, by wearing
sack clothes and
sitting on ashes, by prayer and fasting. In other
words they admitted their wrongdoings, they rejected
them and implored
God’s mercy. Same way, wars, interests of one nation
over the other nations’, crime, drug addiction,
prostitution, poverty, human degradation and other
social injustices, demand
national and international conversion of the heart
and of attitude of everybody if the world is to
be refreshed. Coming
to consider the delicate situation of our part
of the world, we are aware of the many difficulties
our countries are confronting:
war threat, political tensions, drought, social
deprivations, freedom limitations, youth forced
to spend their best years
in war preparedness, away from family, education
and opportunities that other youth of their age
take for granted, one wonders
if prayer, fasting and conversion of the heart
are not the very first, even if not the only means
that one would use
to reverse the course of events.
May God open
our eyes to see and our ears to hear and move our hearts to obey
his call to conversion and penance. And may days
of prosperity and peace lay ahead of us. May this year’s
first fast prepare us for the Great Lent and obtain to us peace
of heart, mind and spirit, to our political leaders vision and
wisdom, and to our beloved country a new season of peace and growth.
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