“He preached in these words, 'Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed.’ And the people of Nineveh believed in God.” (Jonah 3:4-5)
Why was Jonah’s preaching so effective in today's first reading?
His words were simple, but they were strengthened by his witness: he had come alive from the belly of a whale after three days - surely God was with this man!
In the Gospel, Jesus’s preaching was also instantly effective: He too was emerging from mortal danger, since His cousin and fellow preacher, John the Baptist, had just been arrested and would soon be killed.
