وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

That whale was extremely huge. It was "a great fish".
There are many huge whales, each one of them like a spacious room, able to swallow a boat together with those in it. When the great fish swallowed Jonah, Jonah looked and found himself as if in a large hall or in a pool. What did he do? He returned to his senses, knelt down and prayed in the belly of the whale, and the Lord beheld him and rejoiced:
Ah Jonah! I have wanted this prayer from you since the beginning of the story. The reason for all that has happened was to make you kneel down, even if in the belly of the fish, that we may reason together.
"For a long time I have wanted to talk to you and reason together, but you were angry, you fled and refused to talk. But now is an appropriate opportunity to reconcile together.
Jonah knelt and prayed to the Lord, and returned once again to his prophetic rites. He returned to his former image as an obedient God-loving man, firmly believing in God's promises. He returned to his former state, trusting God and offering Him thanksgiving.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

I was greatly affected by Jonah's prayer in the belly of the great fish, which is characterized by the spirit of prophecy, wondrous faith and assurance of the unseen.
It is one of the greatest prayers I have ever read in my life. If only he had offered it, or a prayer of its like, before he had thought of fleeing from the Lord! Indeed tribulation is a school of prayer.
I was deeply affected by his saying: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction and He answered me", and I said in myself, "What is all this, Jonah? How has God answered you when you are still in the belly of the great fish? Would it not be more appropriate to say, 'I cried out to You, O Lord, answer me', so that you plead for your prayer to be answered rather than declaring it?"
Jonah saw with the eye of faith what the Lord would give him. He saw it as if it were before his eyes, and not as if he would obtain it later on, thus he said joyfully: "I cried out to the Lord.. and He answered me".
Jonah continued his wondrous prayer, saying to the Lord: "Out of the belly, of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice... all Your billows its and Your waves passed over me... Yet I will look again toward Your Holy temple". With this faith Jonah could see himself outside the great fish, looking toward the temple of the Lord.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

With this faith he was able to turn his prayer from petition into thanksgiving whilst he was still in the belly of the great fish, and thus he concluded his prayer by saying: "But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord" (Jon. 2:9).
What made you sure, O holy prophet, that the Lord heard your prayer and answered you, sanctioned that you come out of the whale and return once more to behold His temple? How far was that temple from you? It was far away in Jerusalem whilst you were in the belly of the whale, somewhere in the sea, exactly where you could not ascertain. But the prophet replies:
"I am completely confident that I will come out of the belly of the whale and accomplish my mission, because God's word is never disproved nor does it return empty.”

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Jonah

"So long as God commanded that I should go to Nineveh, then I will go there and carry out His sacred will, undertake my preaching ministry and then return to the temple of God to worship there. I will sacrifice to the Lord and offer my vows. All this I see clearly and without doubt before my eyes. My present temporary state in the whale and the sea has no effect on this at all."

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Jonah

"How amazing is this man in his faith! Indeed, he is the man of deep faith chosen by the Lord. We do not deny that a cloud engulfed him and he sinned against God, but his essence was still good.
He saw the future full of hope as though it were the present. He offered thanksgiving to the Lord for the salvation which he had not yet received according to time, but which he had actually received according to the gift of revelation granted to prophets; the revelation of the man who has eyes open to see the Lord's visions as in an open book, and who enjoys God's promises before they are fulfilled

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Jonah

"When Jonah's faith reached that wonderful level, the Lord ordered the whale to vomit him onto dry land.
That whale acted with great discipline according to an assuring predestined Divine plan. It appeared in the proper time and at the right place in order to carry Jonah in its belly. It was as though this prophet was being taken from an open ship liable to being covered and drowned by the waves, into an enclosed and protected ship invulnerable to water and waves. In due time the whale vomited Jonah onto dry land at the place which God defined. There it left him unharmed after it had fully completed its errand.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Jonah

"Congratulations, Jonah, on this wonderful submarine in whose bosom you lived for a while. It has brought to your mission.
Let us turn over this page in the life of Jonah as if it had never happened. As if the first two chapters of the Book have been forgotten by the Lord. O the Lord returned and said to Jonah anew: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach the message that I tell you.”

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Nineveh


Jonah now goes to Nineveh
God gave Jonah the same command as before: "Arise, go to Nineveh.. " And this time Jonah did not flee from the presence of the Lord, but "arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord".

The command was fulfilled in quietness: God did not reproach nor did Jonah object. This matter may need us to pause and contemplate.
God was not angered by Jonah's attitude so that He deprived him of his ministry or demoted him from the level of prophets to the level of ordinary believers, or looked for another to send instead.
God also did not reprove him. What had happened was enough for him. It was a practical lesson, needing no more words which might hurt the feelings of the person when reproved or reprimanded, scolded or taunted for a previous error. No. This is not God's way. God cares for the feelings of His children. He leaves them to realize their own mistakes without taunting them.
Jonah had received a lesson, so he obeyed. Was it an obedience out of convincement and satisfaction or was it mere submission?
Behold, Jonah! You are now going to Nineveh. What about the previous hindrances which prevented you previously about your honor? What about your word which you will say and which the Lord will not carry out because the city will repent and the Lord will return from His warning? Have you thought of all these things? Has the monster within you died, the monster of dignity and esteem of one's word?
This time Jonah was going to obey, but that was all, he was going to obey outwardly, but from within his honor still held its value, He was going to force himself for obedience's sake, then wait and see what God would do. This time he was going to meet God half way.
The love of dignity still troubled him, but he obeyed for fear of chastisement and not out of faith and humility.
He was carrying out God's command out of fear whilst his heart from within was rebelling, and this rebellion would show in due time. He was walking by the rod and not by grace. God accepted Jonah's state as merely a step that would lead to the obedience which springs from believing in God's wisdom and good governance.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Jonah


Jonah now goes to Nineveh
God gave Jonah the same command as before: "Arise, go to Nineveh.. " And this time Jonah did not flee from the presence of the Lord, but "arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord".

The command was fulfilled in quietness: God did not reproach nor did Jonah object. This matter may need us to pause and contemplate.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Jonah



God was not angered by Jonah's attitude so that He deprived him of his ministry or demoted him from the level of prophets to the level of ordinary believers, or looked for another to send instead.
God also did not reprove him. What had happened was enough for him. It was a practical lesson, needing no more words which might hurt the feelings of the person when reproved or reprimanded, scolded or taunted for a previous error. No. This is not God's way. God cares for the feelings of His children. He leaves them to realize their own mistakes without taunting them.