16th Week of OT 2020 - Monday - Signs of Repentance

“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”  At this point in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus had offered more than enough healings and exorcisms and other miracles to show that he was not only from God, but also that He himself was God.  So, at this point, you really begin to wonder, are the Pharisees really seeking the truth about Jesus, or are they seeking to validate their own narrow view.

In response to this request for a sign, the Lord references two Old Testament stories: the repentance of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba making a great journey to learn the wisdom of Solomon.

We should know the story of Nineveh well, as we hear it every Lent. The people of Nineveh had fallen into great wickedness, and God sends Jonah to call them to repentance. The Ninevites recognized Jonah as God’s prophet and repented en masse, a city of 120,000 people repented.

So too with the Queen of the South, she heard mere rumors of Solomon’s wisdom, and she travels hundreds, if not, thousands of miles to hear it.

And the Lord is saying, even the wicked Ninevites and this pagan queen could detect what was good and holy and made every effort to respond to it. And now the Pharisees had something greater in their midst, God Himself Incarnate, and they were failing to acknowledge Him. Jesus isn’t just another prophet delivering a message from God—he IS God, and for the sake of their eternal souls he is calling them to turn away from wickedness, from narrow-mindedness, for he says “there is something greater than Jonah here.”

Since the earthly ministry of our Lord, not just thousands, but billions have done what the Pharisees failed to do: they’ve recognized Jesus as the Son of God and repented. Yet throughout these two Christian millennia many have still not headed the word of Christ and come to follow him. 

In light of the rampant unbelief in the world, St. John Paul II offered some very challenging words to Christians: "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

Some challenging words, no? That you and I have a responsibility for the faith and the souls of others. Unbelievers and hardened souls are waiting to see in our conduct the fruit of authentic repentance—of true faith.

So our call today, is the same as it is every day: to turn away from every sinful attitude, to seek to be perfectly generous with all of our time, talent, and treasure, to give witness to Christ—for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Christians may be a sign for the world of God’s boundless mercy, by striving to practice Christian virtue in every circumstance.

For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, and that Christians may be attentive to our responsibility of sharing the Gospel with all.

For all those who suffer from violence, war, famine, extreme poverty, addiction, discouragement, loneliness, and those who are alienated from their families.  May they know God’s mercy and be gathered to the eternal kingdom of peace. 

For all those who suffer illness, and those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, that they may be comforted by the healing light of Christ. 

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. for whom this Mass is offered.

 Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord