Necessary time in the belly of the whale

A few years ago a seminarian-student of mine shared his reluctance to being ordained to the priesthood the following year. He could not understand the wisdom of his superiors who sent their men to the most hostile regions in the country. “Why,” he asked, “do we send our few men to places where we are not wanted? Why not establish parishes, school and livelihood programs instead in places where we are welcome?”

I sensed that his disagreement with his superiors’ manner of deploying their limited human resources was symptomatic of something deeper – fear. Given that a few of his confreres had been abducted and killed by terrorists the past few decades, he justifiably feared for his life.

We all have our reasons for rejecting God’s call. For the young seminarian it was fear. For Jonah, loathing.

The Lord commissioned Jonah to go to Nineveh and convince them to turn away from their evil ways in order to avoid divine punishment and destruction. Perhaps Jonah was daunted by his prophetic mission. Perhaps he disdained the Ninevites, enemies of Israel, and preferred that they be destroyed. Or perhaps both.

Running away from his divine commission, he set off for Tarshish. He took passage in a boat to cross the sea; however, a terrible storm broke out. The crew accused Jonah of endangering their lives by running away from the Lord who was hounding him. To spare them Jonah instructed them to throw him overboard. They did so. Then a whale swallowed him, keeping him in its belly for three days before spewing him out.

Of course Jonah’s tale is not to be taken literally. The parable is about a man who tries to evade God’s call, who runs away from his mission. But even as he flees from God, it is the Lord who rescues him from harm by sending a whale to swallow him and prevent him from drowning. The three days in the belly of the whale signifies soul-searching, during which Jonah wrestles with the Lord and himself.

The emergence from the belly of the whale symbolizes Jonah’s acceptance of his divine mission. Renewed and revitalized, he heads for Nineveh and becomes instrumental in their conversion.

Like Jonah, at times we feel burdened by our responsibilities and wish we could run away from them. Other times we are simply overwhelmed by what the Lord asks of us. We thus suppress the promptings of the Spirit stirring within. Other moments we turn deaf to God speaking through the dictates of our conscience as we hold on to our sinful behavioral patterns. At crucial moments, we feel unworthy to embrace our prophetic call to denounce injustice, corruption or violence in the family or society.

Like Jonah we need to spend time in the belly of the whale as we articulate who we want to be as persons and as we discern God’s will for us. We need to retreat and hibernate in order to discover our true selves and our deepest desires, our mission and our destiny.

And so like Jonah my seminarian-student spent time in the belly of the whale during the forthcoming Christmas break. As he participated in the Simbang Gabi novena Masses and reflected on the mystery of the incarnation, he came to a deeper understanding of himself and God’s call. Upon the resumption of classes he shared with me his new realization and resolve. He was ready to be ordained a priest for the rest of his life, for, as he said, his mission was to be a sacrament, a visible sign, of God’s love wherever he is sent. Now fully embracing his vocation, he has found his way to his Nineveh where the Lord has sent him to be a sacrament of faithful love notwithstanding the consequences.