SPIRITUAL PATH

It often happens to complain because it seems that God does not intervene in moments of greatest need or suffering. It seems, in cases like these, that God is distant and uninterested in the problems of the world. But the reality is very different. The apparent absence of God in everyday life is motivated by the fact that we do not pray to Him with sincerity and humility. Thus we read the story of Nineveh, a city so immersed in sin that God intends to destroy it. But the inhabitants of the city decide to listen to the prophet Jonah and what do they do? Are they helpless waiting for their fate? Do they get angry with God, accusing him of being bad and unfair? Are they angry (as almost always happens) with the prophet who tries to warn them? No. None of this. The inhabitants of Nineveh begin to do penance and fasting, to pray to God out of remorse and repentance. God saw their works. Concrete works of sacrifice. He did not see their words in the wind or their trivial promises. He saw the concrete desire to change, to convert. And then God changed His mind and didn’t send the punishment He had in store upon them. One wonders, what if the inhabitants of Nineveh had not repented? Sodom and Gomorrah are the answer. When we demand something from God, do we ever wonder if our conduct is fueled by these good intentions, by contrition for sins, by a willingness to improve, or if we are hoping for a cheap miracle, promising things we will not do?