In today’s Gospel Our Lord, perhaps with a note of disappointment, reminds his listeners how in the past they marveled at things that were only a foreshadowing of what he wished to bring them. The prophet Jonah was miraculously kept alive in the belly of a large fish for three days; Our Lord would rise from death itself on the third day and not just go on living as we do, but live forever. Jonah warned the Ninevites that in three days they would be destroyed if they didn’t act; Our Lord offers a new life that with blossom into an eternal one if only those receiving his message repent and believe in the Gospel. Jonah went grudgingly to his mission, because he really didn’t want his listeners to be spared; Our Lord, in perfect unity of will with his Father, came to the world to save it, not condemn it, and he did so willingly.
The only question remaining is our response. The Ninevites repented and received a “stay of execution”; Our Lord offers us, as Paul reminds us in today’s First Reading, to believe and to carry his message of salvation not only to one people, but to all the nations, as his apostles. His invitation implies today not just conversion, but mission, and rewards beyond our imagination.
Let’s show ourselves today to not be a generation that continually seeks signs, but one that has faith.
Readings: Romans 1:1–7; Psalm 98:1b–e, 2–4; Luke 11:29–32. See also 16th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday and 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday.