the point in the book of Jonah

It is indistinguishable the similarities we have with the story of Jonah, because like Jonah we reject God at first but then we realize how stupid we are or were and we always or most of the time come back to Him, it also gives us and idea of how is impossible to avoid God’s call in our lives.
God comes to Jonah and tells him that he needs to go and tell the Assyrians to repent from their evil ways of life, but Jonah instead of obeying God he ran away, as quoted in the bible:

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me." But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

But there is no way people can run away form the Lord, actually it is practically impossible, Jonah thought he could fool God by running away, but instead God send a huge storm against the ship and Jonah jumped out of it and a big fish swallowed him, he spend three days inside, this is also an image of the resurrection, because like our Lord Jonah came a to life after three days, he came back to proclaim the word of God to the Assyrians.

Like Jonah let us not run away from the Lord, but instead let us say like our blessed mother, “be done according to thy word”. (Luke 1-38)

how did Manasseh began his reign.

The way of how King Manasseh started his reign remains me to the reign of King Solomon, but exactly the opposite way.
Solomon started as a righteous king, later on he forgot about the Lord his God, and became an evil King by disobeying God’s orders. After King Hezekiah died, his son Manasseh took over as a king, and had everybody worshiping pagan gods and idols, forgetting about the true God, the God of his fathers. As a punishment, God let the Assyrians attack Jerusalem and King Manasseh was carried out off Jerusalem chained, but after this something amazing happened, according second Chronicles, chapter 33, verse 12 to 13:

The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

Now the evil king had discovered who is the true God, the God of his fathers, so he repented and became a righteous king and lived for many years. It is really interesting the similarities that Manasseh has with King David, because like David, Manasseh after committing huge sins against God, he repented hard core and became, as said before, a righteous king.
Like Manasseh, let us convert to God, let us stop worshiping the ways of the world, and become true sons and daughters of God.

The prime minister

It is wacky how some people do not believe in the supremacy of Peter as the first Pope or the “prime minister” of the Catholic Church.
As prophesized by Isaiah in chapter 22, verse 15 to 20:

This is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: 

"Go, say to this steward, to Shebna, who is in charge of the palace: What are you doing here and who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here, hewing your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock? "Beware, the LORD is about to take firm hold of you and hurl you away, O you mighty man. He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die and there your splendid chariots will remain you disgrace to your master's house! I will depose you from your office, and you will be ousted from your position… "In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will be a seat of honor for the house of his father. All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
Like Eliakim, Peter has the keys of the everlasting Kingdom, as mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, verse 17:
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
It is very clear that Peter has the authority as the prime minister of Christ; the Prophet Isaiah makes us release the huge connection between the Old and New Testament.

According to CCC 281, what is the failure if the Israelites?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2811, the failure of the Israelites is their constantly turning away from the Lord:

In spite of the holy Law that again and again their Holy God gives them - "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy" - and although the Lord shows patience for the sake of his name, the people turn away from the Holy One of Israel and profane his name among the nations. For this reason the just ones of the old covenant, the poor survivors returned from exile, and the prophets burned with passion for the name.

How many times like the Israelites we turn our face away from the Lord, every second of our lives is tempted to do it, it is in our human nature to go against God, but there is salvation, that only comes through the Lord Jesus Christ and his Church. The true God does not use prophets to tell his laws, but He Himself comes down in flesh to give us the true law, the good news of salvation, that it is only through him that we are sanctified, as the Catechism says in 2811:

Finally, in Jesus the name of the Holy God is revealed and given to us, in the flesh, as Savior, revealed by what he is, by his word, and by his sacrifice. This is the heart of his priestly prayer: "Holy Father . . . for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth." Because he "sanctifies" his own name, Jesus reveals to us the name of the Father. At the end of Christ's Passover, the Father gives him the name that is above all names: "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Moses

The rebellion of Moses brought, in a sense, freedom to the people of God. Due to this event, Moses became aware of the injustices that the Egyptians were doing to his own people. When Moses saw this, it was like a breakdown in his life, he felt in his heart that he needed to do something, and he did. He killed the Egyptian that was beating up the Hebrew. After this Moses afraid of death, so he left Egypt and you know the rest of the story. Sometimes I think to my self, what would happened if Moses’ heart was not touch by that Hebrew that was getting beating up, I don’t know, but like throughout salvation history God had a plan for them, in this case for Moses. God did not allowed the heart of Moses to be changed by all the power of the pharaoh, instead He used that moment when the Hebrew was been bitten to change his heart to help his own people.

God wants to help us to get closer to Him, but we do not let Him, because all the distractions we have in our lives but like Moses, let us let God use every moment in our lives to change, to be a better persons.

Thoughts on Abraham

What I really appreciate from the story of Abraham is his trust in the Lord. When God told him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, Abraham did not think on not to do it not even a second, this demonstrates Abraham’s love, fear, and huge faith in the Lord. If someone comes to you and says, ok you are going to have to kill your son just because I ask for, you or I, would say NO without thinking about it, how can you kill your only son? But like Abraham let us take that leap of faith on God; to not be afraid to do what the Lord asks us to do. Lets us say always say yes to the Father who knows what is best for us, as we ask Abraham, our father in faith, for his intercession in heaven.

Confession in the book of Genesis

It really amazes me how God kind of showed us the sacrament of reconciliation even before the time of Jesus. Right at the creation of men, the book of Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve were expelled of paradise for disobeying God. After this Eve gave birth to a two children, Abel and Cain.
As Genesis 4-2-5 tells us: Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Cain was very angry with his brother because God liked Abel’s offering more than his own, and was therefore partial to him. Now, look how Abel gave God some of his best portions of the flock while Cain gave just enough to pass the “task”. Notice how sometimes we are like Cain with God, giving Him just enough instead of giving Him EVERYTHING we have and are.

Now the book keeps telling us in chapter 6: Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

I specially like this verse because it is really true how often we are ruled by our vices -- vices that make us fall away from Him. For example, not going to mass because we prefer to sleep in or simply because we are too lazy to walk or take the bus to church. God is telling us, “I know you are weak, but if you master those vises and transform them into virtues and practice them, you will not have to suffer of despair or be absent from ME.”

Notice how the story starts with them (Abel and Cain) working and offering sacrifices to God. In other words, worship Him, then due to a vise Cain did not do it the way he was supposed to, like his brother, so the story goes on in chapter 8: Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Look at how Cain, out of the vice of despair and envy, ended up killing his own brother. Now God comes and says to Cain in chapter 9: Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
It is OBVIOUS that God knew what happened to Abel, but here is the key: God wanted Cain to CONFESS his sin by simply saying, “Yes God, I killed my brother out of envy, can you please forgive me?” And God in his infinite mercy would say, “Yes.” But he did not say that. Knowing that God can see everything, he denied and said: Am I my brother’s keeper? YES you are your brother’s keeper, you should always be taking care of him, and because of this as we all know, Cain was taking away from the land.

Now, not like Cain, let us confess to God that we are sinners and ask Him for forgiveness. Let us fight our own weaknesses and vices, and transform them into virtues. Let us keep our eye on our brothers and sisters and watch for them as they watch for us. In that way, we can grow closer in our relationship with God.