Most of us are familiar with the story of Jonah in the bible and how he was sent to one of the most hostile places in the world, the city of Nineveh, to preach repentance. If you will recall, Jonah initially chose to run from God’s call, but eventually accepted His will. As a result, Nineveh repented and was spared from destruction. God’s call for Jonah to witness might seem extreme compared to what He asks us to do in our work today, but He is nonetheless calling all of us to be witnesses. This story became very real to me, at a very challenging time in my career.
I was working for a bank that was in a state of chaos. It had become a very toxic environment and people were leaving every week, from executives to staff. Literally, over twenty people left the Detroit office in only a couple months. I was praying daily to be able to find a new job with no answer.
One day I was in downtown Detroit for a meeting and felt the desire to go mass. The church nearest to me was the Shrine of St. Joseph in Detroit. As I entered for noon mass, I went to the front pew and began to pray fervently for God to grant me the grace to find a new job. I was filled with serious anxiety over remaining at the bank. The first reading was the story of Jonah. I don’t remember what the gospel was because the priest only spoke about Jonah. As he gave his homily, he walked down from the altar to the front pews. He paused right in front of me and said something to the effect of: ‘It must have been incredibly hard for Jonah to accept God’s will to go to Nineveh but look what God did through him saying yes. Is God calling you to be Jonah in your life?’
I was stunned by this. I felt like God was speaking right to me. More importantly, I felt myself say internally, “Okay God, I will be Jonah at my bank.” The moment I said that a total peace came over me. I resolved to be Jonah at my work and to try to be open to how God might use me there.
Prior to this, people I worked with new I was Catholic, even though I was not specifically vocal about it. They knew this largely from a couple holy cards and a small crucifix I kept on my desk and the occasional conversations they would start. However, prior to this mass, I had not had any real faith related encounters, but that was about to change. The next week a woman walked into my office clearly distraught. I asked what was wrong and she began to relate some difficult family challenges. I offered to pray for her situation. She thanked me for the prayers and then acknowledged that even though she was not Catholic, she felt comfortable talking with me. I knew this was part of God’s plan.
Not long after that, a relatively quiet and shy man at the bank, came into my office and offered me a Christmas pin that his parish was handing out, that said Jesus is the Reason for the Season. He did not stay long or offer any lengthy conversation, but I knew this was an important moment because he went out of his comfort zone to share his Catholic faith with me, which he had never done before. I was again reminded of mass. A third event happened not long after this that would be the most unique encounter.
One day my wife was trying to arrange to get a priest from our parish to provide her dying uncle with last rights. He was Catholic, but had been out of the Church for 30 years. We knew he was very close to death, and we were praying to get there on time. The next morning, I get a call from one of our priests saying he could go, but it had to be immediately. Knowing the gravity of the situation, I said yes.
I went into my boss’s office and told him I had family emergency and needed to leave. He pressed me to know what it was. I assured him my immediate family was okay, but that I needed to do something urgent for an extended family member. He would not stop enquiring until I told him the whole situation. He was not Catholic, but he looked at me with deep compassion and said that I absolutely had to go do this. I don’t know what lasting impact this had on him, but I know for sure he was deeply moved at that moment. My wife’s uncle died a couple days later, in peace, and back in the Church, because I was able to tell this story to my boss and get his support to go.
Only a couple weeks after this, I went to Church by my office to pray during lunch. I was asking God if I was done being Jonah yet. As I left the Church, my phone rang. It was a recruiter, asking me if I would be interested in a new position at another bank, which I ultimately accepted.
While I was released from my Jonah duties at that bank, it would not be until almost 15 years later, that I learned how God used me in the bank to impact a person I barely knew. I was at the funeral of high school classmate who passed unexpectedly at age 50. His family was receiving people at the casket. As I came to the widow, I did not recognize her, but I was stunned to find out she knew me. Without hesitation she said my name and brought up our time together at that troubled bank. It still took me a minute to remember her because did not work in the same area, and as it turned out, I only dealt directly with her on a handful of occasions. Yet She proceeded to tell me how much she appreciated me at the bank, because of how kind and respectful I treated her. It blew me away that I could have that kind of an impact on someone I had only had a couple encounters with, almost 15 years prior. I was once again reminded of my time as Jonah at the bank. Thanks be to God!
Is God possibly calling you to be Jonah at work, in these very toxic, and challenging times? Ask Him and he will let you know. Trust Him and accept His will, and he will work through you to touch people’s lives in ways you might not imagine. God bless and God love you!
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