The gospel for Monday of the 16th week in Ordinary Time is taken from Matthew 12th, chapter 38 through the 42nd verse. Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, teacher, we wish to see a sign from you. He said to them in reply, an evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign. But no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights at the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And there is someone greater than Jonah here.

At the judgment, the Queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. There is someone greater than Solomon here. Jesus responds to the Pharisees who ask for a sign is an indication of the disposition of the Pharisees. They didn’t want to see what God really wanted to show them through Jesus, because it was too frightening to them. Because what Jesus is revealing is the power that he has is the transformation that he can affect within human beings. The transformation, say of Jonah, and that work of Jesus is the greatest of the miracles.

Please ponder these reflections, and at the end of the music, I will close with a prayer. Closing prayer Father, there’s a way in which we can expect a miracle in our life where all of a sudden the thing that we can’t do is given to us the power to accomplish things. It’s not that simple. We’re not here to be powerful human beings, but to be ministers to one another and to be transformed into service and not positions of authority. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.