The readings for the third Sunday in Ordinary Time reveal an amazing thing: God wants mankind to share the goodness of the Holy Trinity. The God who said, "Let us make man in our own image" is taking the first steps in offering the holiness for which He placed in mankind such a profound hunger.
The first reading dramatically expresses this. God asks Jonah to go to Israel's most hated and cruel enemy, Nineveh, to offer His mercy and His love. This offer shocked the Israelites.