1 March 2023 – Luke 11:29-32
Today’s readings are about conversion and penance for our sins and are linked in the name of Jonah. In Mark’s Gospel the crowds often recognise the presence of God in Jesus better than the scribes and Pharisees do. In Luke, on the other hand, the crowds are sometimes presented as people curious to see signs and wonders, but with no real interest or commitment to follow Jesus.
So today we see the crowd thronging even larger and Jesus speaking to them. But what he says is not very flattering: “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign; but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus, like Jonah, calls for repentance and radical conversion, but many of his listeners are not ready or willing to hear that call. They need no more signs: Jesus has given them an abundance of signs through his teaching and healing work. Jesus reminds his listeners of two stories, the first about Jonah and the second about the Queen of Sheba. Jonah, son of Amittai (Joh 1:1), is an Old Testament character who has captured the imagination of popular piety throughout time for the fantastic tale of the prophet who was swallowed by a large fish and then thrown back onto the beach.
However, it is not for this reason that the Lord remembers him, but for what happened to him after he was thrown back from the fish. Jonah was sent to preach conversion to the inhabitants of Nineveh, just as Jesus did when proclaiming the Gospel to the Israelites. The Ninevites, however, listened to the prophet and converted. It remained to be seen how Jesus’ listeners would react, and it remains to be seen, now, our reaction.
The second story, that of the Queen of the South (cf. 1 Kings 10:1.13) reiterates the same thought. In the first book of Kings it is recounted that “the Queen of Sheba, hearing of Solomon’s fame, due to the name of the Lord, came to test him with riddles”. Despite her scepticism, the queen listened to Solomon with an open mind and recognised in him the wisdom that had been given to him from above.
For good workers…
– The Lord is warning us today to be vigilant in recognising him in different circumstances. God’s way of presenting himself is not always evident, but if we know how to listen like the Ninivites and the Queen of the South, we will certainly know how to recognise when Jesus is speaking to us.
– Even today, many “Jonahs” invite us to conversion and, unlike our Jewish brethren, we have the enormous grace of being able to encounter the Lord Jesus in the signs of his presence that are the Sacraments.
P JOBY KAVUNGAL RCJ