Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with
her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob,
blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my
forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are
pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but
you,
O LORD, my God.
“And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence
of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him
may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness.” (Est
C:12, 14-16, 23-25)
It’s interesting that during this first week of
Lent; the Church has that reading from Jonah
preaching to the Ninevites on Wednesday, and
Queen Esther’s plight the following day.
I say it’s interesting, because it sets up an
interesting contrast. Jonah is a prophet, a
position of lofty status, and he is humbled by
God. He’s humbled by God who allowed Jonah to be
swallowed by a fish. He’s humbled by God at the
end of the story when the Lord tries to
demonstrate to Jonah that he has no right to be
angry, by using the gourd plant. And God humbles
Jonah by not allowing his prophecy to come true.
That’s one we overlook I think. Remember the
message Jonah preached, “Forty days more and
Nineveh will be destroyed.” (Jonah
3:1-10) He doesn’t say, “Unless you repent,”
and he doesn’t say, “The Lord might destroy
Nineveh.” His statement is absolute. In forty
days, Nineveh is toast. So when the people
repent, and God doesn’t destroy the city, it
makes Jonah look rather foolish, doesn’t it? All
throughout the story Jonah’s one problem has
been presumption. So Jonah who holds a lofty
status is humbled.
Esther, by contrast, is a poor Jewish maiden
living in exile with her uncle because her
parents have died. She has nothing; she doesn’t
even have a country. She doesn’t have parents.
But when they’re rounding up women looking for a
replacement for the Queen, because of Esther’s
beauty, she catches the King’s eye, and he
eventually falls in love with her. Esther goes
from lowly status to lofty status precisely
because she doesn’t presume anything. She puts
everything before God. And this is where we see
her in today’s reflection.
The King has signed a royal degree at the behest
of his royal vizier, Haman, to exterminate all
the Jews in his province. And Esther fasted for
three days before offering this prayer to the
Lord to pity her people and guide her in what to
do. Esther presumes nothing, but puts everything
before God, and for that the Lord continually
blesses her. But look at the prayer. It’s
honest. It’s passionate. It’s sincere. It
acknowledges God’s love and his might.
The lesson today is not to presume that we know
the will of God. Work as if everything depends
on you, and pray as if everything depends on
God. That’s our mandate. Because if we’re
honest, we realize mostly we’re a lot more like
Jonah than we are like Esther. Part of the
purpose of prayer is to get us to stop trying to
fit God into our agenda, but rather be open to
His.
Blessed be God forever.
Father Michael Anthony Sisco
Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents
