WHAT SIGN DO WE WANT?

Luke 11:29-32

In today’s readings, we see two contrasting categories of people: in the first reading, we have the innocent submission of the people of Nineveh to the call of Jonah for repentance, and in our gospel, we see the hardness of heart of the Jewish people who refuse the call of Jesus for conversion. 

It is quite disturbing, seeing that the people of Nineveh followed the call of Jonah, a prophet, but Jesus, the Savior, Son of God had problems with the Jewish people in His call for conversion. This is ironic. Where does the problem lie? Why is it that in our readings, Jonah is successful in his ministry, but Jesus is not? Is it a problem of the preacher or a problem the hearer? I think that the people of Nineveh underwent repentance and radical conversion because they heard the voice of God in the preaching of Jonah. It is because their hearts, ears and minds were open to the words of Jonah that they were able to react accordingly.

The Jewish people on the other hand, did not not undergo repentance and radical conversion because, when they listened to the preaching of Jesus, they did not recognize the voice of God in Him. They questioned Jesus and insisted that He should do something sensational to prove that he is really the anointed of God. Their hearts, ears and minds were closed to what Jesus had to say to them. They wanted a sign so that they can believe.

How about us; how about you and me? Are our hearts, ears and minds open to what Jesus is to say today? Many times we can be like these Pharisees or even more than them. Many times Christ crosses our path, many times Jesus makes known his presence in our lives in various ways. But most of the times we ignore Him. Or maybe like the Pharisees we submit him to our own criteria and ask for a sign as a proof that he is the Messiah. Many times we reject a piece of advice from a friend or from people around us simply because we think he or she is not good enough to do so. Lent is a journey, a journey that we cannot walk alone. May the Lord open our hearts, ears and minds that we may be able to listen to his word regardless the means through which it comes to us.