Readings for the Day: Bad News, Good News

I sat through a focus group discussion about spirituality with some students yesterday. It was a very interesting exercise of listening to how the youth view Catholicism in particular.

One student said she didn't think the Old Testament should be part of the bible. And I don't blame her. Look at today's first reading, for example. Jonah is ordered by God to Nineveh and he went around proclaiming, "Forty days more and Nineveh would be destroyed." Memories of Sodom and Gomorrah. By some miracle (and much to Jonah's consternation), the people of Nineveh repented and God "repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out." But I guess from the student's point of view, it would still seem strange that God would have even thought of destroying Nineveh.

The message of the Gospel is the same but God's actions are different. After John dies, Jesus takes up the message of repentance but he doesn't go about threatening destruction to any of the places he visits, regardless of whether or not they heed his message. The closest he got to threatening a place was when he said, "Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida!" But the punishment would be on judgment day. No fire and brimstone for them.

And that same message applies to individuals. Repent or else you will suffer on judgment day. Think of the rich man who paid no heed to his servant Lazarus, died, and appealed to Abraham (?) to save him. Or the goats on judgment day.

No punishment while a person is alive. No stripping of kingdoms, for instance, as was the case with Saul. In fact, the "King of the Jews" ends up being crucified himself instead of punishment being inflicted on the evildoers.

And I guess that's why we call it the Gospel. The prophets of old were proponents of bad news. (But of course, this must all have been all part of their God architectonic, a way to explain all the bad things that befell the people of Israel) Repent or else something deadly will happen.

The message of the Gospel, on the other hand is that of an infinitely forgiving God, one who at the moment of death asks his father to forgive those who did him harm and even provides them with a excuse, they know not what they are doing.

The good news is that God is actually not a God of infinite vindictiveness but one of infinite love.