I've been pretty under the weather since last Wednesday ... everyone around here's been coming down with this terrible cold, and I had it too. Spent some time in bed, lots actually, tons of soup, lots of temperature taking, and some good rounds with my old neti-pot, one of the strangest things ever, but boy does it work! I highly recommend!
Anyway, the readings at Daily Mass lately have been about Jonah - Father's been calling him a bit of a drama queen, well, King really. He is being called to preach to the people of Nineveh (modern day Iraq). They should repent, turn from their evil ways, and follow the God of all gods. However, he's a little - well, shall we say - perturbed at God for this. He refuses to do it and gets on a boat with some other guys, ends up in a terrible storm, and they throw him over (well, he went willingly actually). He's then in the belly of the whale, and eventually goes into Nineveh like he was asked in the first place. Jonah, always taking the long way around!
He preaches his message of repentance and they repent, turn from their evil ways and are all spared by God.
Now, today - the Gospel was about the religious of the community asking Jesus for yet another sign. He's been doing miracle after miracle, preaching parable after parable - and they aren't convinced - but ONE more and they'll be following Him like there's no tomorrow. So He tells them they are of an evil generation, and no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. This probably had them spinning their heads all over again - saying, what does Jesus being God have ANYTHING to do with Jonah sitting in the belly of a whale? He has LOST his mind!
BUT - even the Ninevites, a pagan people, not the chosen people converted when they were preached the message of repentance. These were the CHOSEN PEOPLE and they didn't believe him. Sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes were getting into Heaven faster than these people. They needed to repent of their evil ways and follow the Lord. It took a LOT of time; some of them never ever got it.
So now it is with us.
Are we an evil generation seeking a sign?
Do we want more than what the Lord has already done in us?
I know I can be sometimes. I want a specific sign from the Lord. And there are times when I can go into long tangents with Him about not having one so God must not be listening to my prayers. Which, let's face it, is ridiculous. I have SO many things, experiences, people in my life, that are only through a product of God's grace and his providence.
I can be like the religious in today's Gospel - always searching, seeking, wondering in the desert voluntarily because I don't have the 'thing' I want most of all. I can't even imagine where I'd be if God hadn't had his hand on me all this time.
So today I remember, not how lucky I am, but how blessed I am to have the grace of God upon me. And I pray for the ability to always recognize where His hand is working in my life, and to remember that His grace is enough for me!
Anyway, the readings at Daily Mass lately have been about Jonah - Father's been calling him a bit of a drama queen, well, King really. He is being called to preach to the people of Nineveh (modern day Iraq). They should repent, turn from their evil ways, and follow the God of all gods. However, he's a little - well, shall we say - perturbed at God for this. He refuses to do it and gets on a boat with some other guys, ends up in a terrible storm, and they throw him over (well, he went willingly actually). He's then in the belly of the whale, and eventually goes into Nineveh like he was asked in the first place. Jonah, always taking the long way around!
He preaches his message of repentance and they repent, turn from their evil ways and are all spared by God.
Now, today - the Gospel was about the religious of the community asking Jesus for yet another sign. He's been doing miracle after miracle, preaching parable after parable - and they aren't convinced - but ONE more and they'll be following Him like there's no tomorrow. So He tells them they are of an evil generation, and no sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. This probably had them spinning their heads all over again - saying, what does Jesus being God have ANYTHING to do with Jonah sitting in the belly of a whale? He has LOST his mind!
BUT - even the Ninevites, a pagan people, not the chosen people converted when they were preached the message of repentance. These were the CHOSEN PEOPLE and they didn't believe him. Sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes were getting into Heaven faster than these people. They needed to repent of their evil ways and follow the Lord. It took a LOT of time; some of them never ever got it.
So now it is with us.
Are we an evil generation seeking a sign?
Do we want more than what the Lord has already done in us?
I know I can be sometimes. I want a specific sign from the Lord. And there are times when I can go into long tangents with Him about not having one so God must not be listening to my prayers. Which, let's face it, is ridiculous. I have SO many things, experiences, people in my life, that are only through a product of God's grace and his providence.
I can be like the religious in today's Gospel - always searching, seeking, wondering in the desert voluntarily because I don't have the 'thing' I want most of all. I can't even imagine where I'd be if God hadn't had his hand on me all this time.
So today I remember, not how lucky I am, but how blessed I am to have the grace of God upon me. And I pray for the ability to always recognize where His hand is working in my life, and to remember that His grace is enough for me!
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