Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to [Jesus], "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here."    

Buck Howard was a complicated man. In many ways, he was a very talented entertainer, but he often acted like nothing more than a spoiled child as his personal assistant Troy often observed. He enjoyed some fame early on when Johnny Carson had him on his show a number of times. In fact, it was Carson who gave him the name "The Great." But now greatness is only a facade, even though he still is able to do amazing things with psychic powers and illusion. One of those illusions is his "signature effect" as he calls it, a trick that no one could figure out how he did it. At one time during the movie, he plays Las Vegas, but does not go for all the glitz and glory, even though he seems to want it. In the end, he went back to small town America, entertaining local people, and continued to amaze people with his abilities. His "come on" to his audience was "I love this town" and "I love you people." Perhaps that was what Buck Howard was all about--a man realizing that he had some talent, even as he was head-strong and opinionated, doing his best to make it in the world, struggling to love others, even amidst his faults.    

According to the evangelists, Jesus refers to the prophet Jonah during his teaching while he does not refer to some more famous prophets like Jeremiah or Samuel. Why would Jesus consider someone like Jonah worthy to be studied? It seems from the Gospels that he was referring to Jonah's life as a prefiguring of what would happen at his own death and resurrection together with Jonah's abilities to move others to repent. But perhaps one of Jesus' reasons for using Jonah as an example was Jonah's life and attitude.

Jonah may have been a prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures, but as a person he fit into a category of persons who might be described as a "head-strong, opinionated, somewhat good person who had talents." God tried to become active in his life, and when Jonah finally followed what God wanted, he did not like what God accomplished through him, and so he complained. In fact, the book of the Bible named after him ends with his complaints. Jonah is a picture of human beings in so many ways. We want what we think should be done, and when it does not happen, we complain and sulk in some way, setting up an attitude of discontent with the way things go in our lives.

Buck Howard was a talented man in many ways, but his attitude of desiring only what he wanted was so strong that he could not use his talents to accomplish the good things in his life that were possible. As we study his life, and the life of the prophet Jonah, perhaps we should dwell on what could be, what we can accomplish if we only curb the selfishness that our human natures naturally desire. We all can be a lot better than we are right now if we control the selfishness that tends to dominate our thinking.

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we want what we want. Our selfish human natures can be so demanding that at times we may not even recognize what we are doing. Continue to give us the grace that we need to lead us to a truly Christian attitude. Be with us, we pray. 

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©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America