A Call to Urgent Compassion: Reflecting on God's Mercy During Lent

A Reflection for Thursday, February 19 by Rev Elizabeth McColl

Lectionary reading for 02/19/2026:  Psalm 51; Jonah 3:1-10; Romans 1:1-7;

Selected passage for reflection: Jonah 3:1-10

Read

Jonah 3:1-10 NIV 

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.  Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”  The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down in the dust.  This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.  Who knows? God may yet relent and, with compassion, turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

Reflect

Jonah 3:1-10 reads like a one-page summary for a much longer document; few details and lots of facts. We don’t need any more detail than we have: “call urgently on God, and God may relent”. As I watch the news and witness the violence and wanton disrespect for human rights occurring across the US and around the world, I feel the need to urgently call out to God for mercy. If there were ever a moment to call on God urgently, this is it. Perhaps it’s always the time. 

I have wondered for a while now, do people who do not know God still pray? I believe they do. And does God hear them? I believe the answer is yes. Lent is a sacred time when we can practice repentance and return to God, believing that God acts with compassion toward all people, believers and nonbelievers alike. Lent is a perfect opportunity to call out to God urgently. It is also an opportune time to make an outward sign that we are doing so. Maybe not sackcloth, but something to acknowledge that Lent is a time to call on the Most High God more urgently than we did yesterday - or last week - or indeed, for some time, if at all. For some, that outward sign was ashes on the forehead, for others it might be a bracelet or a symbol to remind them that God is compassionate.

The Repentance of Nineveh is a dramatic 1829 oil painting by British Romantic artist John Martin (1789–1854), depicting the biblical story of Jonah warning the city of Nineveh.

For me, this Lenten time reminds me that God moves with compassion. With that in mind, I searched for the word “Compassion,” and one definition describes it as “the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.” That’s what the King of Nineveh hoped God would do, and indeed, that is what happened. In the midst of their evil and violent ways, the people of Nineveh were shown compassion, and God did not bring the destruction he had threatened. Studies have shown that when we act with more compassion towards ourselves, we find it easier to extend that to others, even to someone we may consider an enemy. Lent is a time to practice compassion on ourselves and others.

Respond 

Next time you see or read about someone who invokes a negative response, take a moment to stop and reflect: Is there a way I could respond with compassion?

Rest

Lord, in the regular rhythm of a day, put someone in my mind who needs to see that whatever they may have done, they are still worthy of my kindness and thought. Especially when I am struggling with another human, help me to take a few breaths and remember they are made in your image, too. Amen.

About the Author 

After a few years in the USA for graduate school and pastoring, Elizabeth has lived most of her life in her hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland, where she currently resides. When not teaching music vocationally, she enjoys being outside hiking in the hills, drinking water, wine and coffee with friends, and watching fictional political thrillers from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and immersing herself in the written word - also mostly fiction.