Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time, October 16, 2023

Gospel

Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,

"This generation is an evil generation;

it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,

except the sign of Jonah.

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,

so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

At the judgment

the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation

and she will condemn them,

because she came from the ends of the earth

to hear the wisdom of Solomon,

and there is something greater than Solomon here.

At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation

and condemn it,

because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,

and there is something greater than Jonah here."

Reflection

What stood out to me the most in this passage was this quote, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it”. Jesus is rebuking the generation that seeks signs but does not recognize the true significance of the signs before them. This made me pause, it sounded too familiar. A people looking for visible signs to prove or cement their faith, not seeing the truth when it’s standing right in front of them. However, isn’t that the opposite of what faith is? Isn’t faith having trust or belief in something or someone even when it cannot be seen. I think Jesus was trying to point out that they had no faith, they were searching for signs they could see, when they were blind to the biggest sign of all. Jesus was right in front of them.

How many of us today have prayed and asked God for a sign? Something big and miraculous that we can’t miss. While I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing to do... maybe dangerous in a, be careful what you wish for kind of way... I believe often times we are already given signs and either choose not to see them or don’t even realize when its already been given.

When we start to look for Jesus in the everyday is when it gets easier to see these signs. We can find Him in the kindness of a stranger, in the awesome beauty of nature, in the warmth of a loved one's smile, in the simple silence amongst the chaos of the day, and in daily struggles where He gives us the strength to keep going. Having a closer relationship with Him, and talking to Him as a friend will allow us to better hear Him and follow His voice. How can we expect ourselves to see these signs and hear Him if we do not have a relationship with Him, it would be as though trying to hear a stranger’s voice in a large crowd. Through daily conversation with Him, we share our joys and sorrows, our hopes and fears, and we seek His guidance in our decisions, big and small. This will help us to be more in tune with those small nudges of our conscience we may feel guiding us in the right direction, the Holy Spirit trying to show us the way. Instead of looking for the obvious big miraculous signs I think we should look for the small everyday ones, and that starts with us taking the time to listen and be more aware of the little miracles right in front of us.