The Gospel for Monday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time is taken from 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. There is someone greater than Solomon here.

At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will rise with this generation and condemn it because at the preaching of Jonah, they repented. There’s something greater than Jonah here. In the Old Testament, God used prophets and kings to present things to people that they would have to understand and fathom and grow into the truth of what he was teaching them. The same is now true in the New Testament. But Jesus underscores one crucial element. No one is going to be open to the signs that God has given unless they have a spirit of openness, wonder, curiosity and a willingness to change.

It’s a challenge for all of us to read the signs today that are around us. And we need to be more open and receptive to whatever God is trying to show us today. Take a moment to reflect upon these images, and I will end with a closing prayer. Foreign closing prayer. Father, open our heart, open our minds, open our spirit to what is out there to teach us, help us to ponder things, wonder about things, spend times reflecting so that we can find the kingdom of God that is in our midst. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.