Jonah is the sign of God’s care for all

 
Reading: As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. Luke 11:29.
 
Good morning, happy Monday, and many blessings my dear family.
 
The opening sentence of today’s Gospel (Luke 11:29-32) may grab your attention. Jesus is telling the crowd that the current generation is an evil generation. He goes on to tell them what will happen in the future — and the forecast is not favorable. In fact, I assume Jesus’ words are frightening and forbidding to His listeners. Despite this, it seems that Jesus is simply hoping to get the crowd’s attention so that they will listen to His message.
 
Jesus is speaking to the crowd about the day of judgment and what will happen at that time. What He tells them is ominous. Who wants to hear that kind of message?
 
There is always an interest in the unusual and the spectacular. There is a demand for signs as the ordinary does not seem to be not enough to impress or prove anything. It needs wisdom to see the deeper gift, to appreciate what lies hidden in the everyday. Lord, give us eyes to see the signs that are present and the ability to recognize your presence in the ordinary.
 
Curiosity plays a significant role in the life of many. They want to know and feel they are entitled to know. May we have curiosity about Jesus and the desire to know him and his ways more fully. We pray for a conversion of heart to bring us to a fuller relationship with him who invites us to live the ordinary in an extraordinary way.
 
Jonah is the sign of God’s care for all. His call was to go to a far country who did not know him or his God. He is also a sign of God’s care for us individually – his care was for Jonah’s safety. Jonah’s strength was in his trust in God. Prayer is a time of allowing trust in God to grow and become a central part of our being.
 
Take comfort from Jonah! He is the only prophet in the Bible who begins by refusing his mission. He is the only minor prophet to be mentioned by Jesus. Yet, he starts inauspiciously. Appalled by what God wants of him, he immediately headed about as far from Nineveh as it is possible to go. Having saved him from the whale’s belly, God calls again. This time, Jonah responds. I offer thanks to the God of second chances.
 
Like Jonah, we can be called upon to be a conduit through which God’s will is accomplished. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if our hearts are not in what we do – the fact that we do it can be enough for God to achieve astonishing results though us. Where do I see ‘signs’ of God’s activity in my life? Maybe in nature; family; friends; random acts of kindness; poverty; the homeless?
 
Blessings,
 
Fr. Luis+