SW News: Peace and stability of Iraq that is slowly recovering from the ravages of the Islamic State occupation and an end to the pandemic featured prominently in the appeal of Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako to Chaldean Catholics ahead of the Nineveh Fast that began on Monday, February 7.

The prelate invited believers to enjoy the treasures of traditional pious practices as they fast and pray on February, 7, 8 and 9 reminiscing the appeal to fast and repent of Prophet Jonah to the residents of Nineveh that stood in what is now Mosul.  The Patriarch said that the salvation of God is not reserved for any particular ethnic group. Instead, it envelops all who repent, he added.

During the three days, Chaldeans fast from midnight to noon and abstain from all sorts of meat-based dishes and beverages. When residents of Nineveh fasted and prayed for three days, God’s wrath was appeased and the city was saved from destruction. The Chaldean Patriarch’s reflections on the Nineveh Fast has philological, exegetical and historical notes on the Book of Jonah.

He said the biblical text has hints that recall the traits of gratuitousness and universality that characterize the salvation promised by Christ.