From the book of the prophet Jonah (Jon 3:1-10) :
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time :
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you”.
So Jonah made ready, and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’s bidding.
Now, Nineveh was an enormously large city ;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed”, when the people of Nineveh believed God ; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then, he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles : “Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything ; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God ; every man shall turn from his evil way, and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish”.
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them ; he did not carry it out.
From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 10:38-42) :
Jesus entered a village, where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary, who sat beside the Lord at his feet, listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving ? Tell her to help me”.
The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her”.
Words of the Holy Father : (…) Jesus’ word is the good portion, that which Mary had chosen. Therefore, she gives it first place: she stops and listens. The rest will come after. This does not detract from the value of practical effort, but it must not precede, but rather flow from listening to the word of Jesus. It must be enlivened by his Spirit. (Angelus, 17 July 2022).
(1 Peter 4:7-11)
The end of everything has come. Therefore, be self-controlled and clearheaded so you can pray.
Above all, show sincere love to each other, because love brings about the forgiveness of many sins.
Open your homes to each other without complaining.
And serve each other according to the gift each person has received, as good managers of God’s diverse gifts.
Whoever speaks should do so as those who speak God’s word. Whoever serves should do so from the strength that God furnishes. Do this so that in everything God may be honored through Jesus Christ. To him be honor and power forever and always. Amen.
Surah Al-Anam(, “The Cattle”), (6:95-104) :
Indeed, Allah is the One Who causes seeds and fruit stones to sprout. He brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living. That is Allah ! How can you then be deluded from the truth ?
He causes the dawn to break, and has made the night for rest and made the sun and the moon to travel with precision. That is the design of the Almighty, All-Knowing.
And He is the One Who has made the stars as your guide through the darkness of land and sea. We have already made the signs clear for people who know.
And He is the One Who originated you all from a single soul, then assigned you a place to live and another to be laid to rest. We have already made the signs clear for people who comprehend.
And He is the One Who sends down rain from the sky—causing all kinds of plants to grow—producing green stalks from which We bring forth clustered grain. And from palm trees come clusters of dates hanging within reach. There are also gardens of grapevines, olives, and pomegranates, similar in shape but dissimilar in taste. Look at their fruit as it yields and ripens ! Indeed, in these are signs for people who believe.
Yet they associate the jinn with Allah in worship, even though He created them, and they falsely attribute to Him sons and daughters out of ignorance. Glorified and Exalted is He above what they claim !
He is the Originator of the heavens and earth. How could He have children when He has no mate ? He created all things and has perfect knowledge of everything.
No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision. For He is the Most Subtle, All-Aware.
Indeed, there have come to you insights from your Lord. So whoever chooses to see, it is for their own good. But whoever chooses to be blind, it is to their own loss. And I am not a keeper over you.
Saints of the day :
St. Paulinus, Bishop of York, Disciple of St. Gregory the Great.
Sts. Daniel, Samuel and Companions, first Franciscan Martyrs.
You’re a litteralist, like all atheists, you don’t see the double reading. Tolkien mostly doesn’t speak about real things contrary to the Bible, nor does it have that much teachings, but he engraved modern mythological representations.
Tell me what you didn’t understand and i’ll try to explain. I don’t think that an entire kindgom literally believed Jonah(, yet wouldn’t be that much surprised if it did happen, it’s not the point, old history books from that time are also unreliable like that, and even more for mythological books, i think that people from that time knew that it needed interpretations, compared to nowadays), but if you think that it doesn’t teach us anything(, in this case mostly about the atheist’s accusations of a vengeful/cruel God of the old testament), then you’re mistaken, the goal here, as always, is to make the kingdom/city of God comes unto Earth(, «Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. May your kingdom come.»), fearing God is one way to walk towards it(, laws are corruptible and police(wo)men can’t be everywhere, nor can they police our thoughts/intentions).