"Sign of Jonah" means different things to people. The first time I heard it was a movie. The setting was the ocean and a sailor that was bad luck was called a "Jonah." No one wanted him aboard. So I thought being called a "Jonah" was a bad thing.
When my spiritual director, Father Aquinas, introduced me to a Brother Jonah I was surprised. "Brother Bad Luck?" I often wondered why he chose or was given that name, but never had the opportunity to ask.
This morning I started reading the Book of Jonah and learned that Jonah was not bad luck. In fact, when the storm was tossing the ship around, the sailors started praying to their different gods. They were covering all the bases. Some god must be able to help. The only person aboard who wasn't praying was Jonah, who was asleep. They woke him up. When the sailors told Jonah that they were praying to all the gods they could think of and that he (Jonah) better pray to his God. Well, Jonah didn't want to do that because he was running away from God.
So Jonah had to tell the crew what he had done. God had given him a task and he didn't want to do it and he was running as far as he could--away from God. He certainly didn't want to appeal to God, for anything. God would be angry at Jonah for running away. It would be better for Jonah to die; so he told the sailors to throw him into the sea to appease God.
They did and the sea immediately calmed. The sailors were awed. They were impressed with Jonah's God's power. They now believed.
This is the first example of evangelizing the Gentiles.
This shows that God's justice is not ours. Jonah doesn't die, even though he disobeyed God.
The rest of Jonah's story shows the Ninevites repenting, which Jonah didn't like but God is the God of all, not just the Israelites.
Also,
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