REFLECTION:

Recently I had a conversation with a good friend while we were catching up, and somehow our conversation turned into one of those “what if” discussions. We started wondering about the different paths our lives could have taken. What if I had gotten married and never gone down the path of becoming a priest? What if certain decisions had been different? What if we had never really found God — what would our lives have looked like?

Those kinds of conversations make you realize how a single decision can shape an entire life. One choice can lead you in one direction, while another choice can open a completely different future. Sometimes history — even our personal history — can change because of one turning point.

In the reading from Jonah, Nineveh was heading toward destruction.

God sent Jonah with a simple message: “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” The future seemed certain. Judgment was coming. Nineveh was moving in one direction — toward ruin — and nothing seemed able to stop it.

But then something unexpected happened. The people listened.

From the greatest to the least, they repented. They fasted, prayed, and turned away from their sins. Even the king stepped down from his throne, covered himself with sackcloth, and humbled himself before God. And Scripture tells us something remarkable: “God saw their actions, how they turned from their evil way; and God relented of the evil he had threatened.” (Jonah 3:10)

Nineveh teaches us a powerful truth: Repentance changes history.

Nineveh was heading toward destruction — but repentance redirected its future. What seemed inevitable was not inevitable after all, because hearts changed.

Sometimes we think the direction of our lives is already set. We think it is too late to change. Too many mistakes have been made. Too many habits have formed. We assume the future will simply follow the path we have already started.

But Jonah reminds us that God always leaves room for conversion.

Just like those “what if” conversations, we begin to realize that our lives could have turned out very differently. And the truth is, even now, our future is still being written. A decision to return to God today can reshape tomorrow. A sincere confession can redirect a life. A humble prayer can open a new path forward.

That is why Lent matters. Lent is a season when we remember that the direction of our lives is not fixed. God gives us the grace to turn around, to begin again, and to walk toward Him.

Nineveh was heading toward destruction. But repentance changed their story. And it can change ours too.