Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 1:1-7; Luke 11:29-32)
Jesus says in today’s gospel that his generation “seeks a
sign.” He means that it wants Jesus to prove his identity. In today’s world he would provide a driver’s
license, a telephone number, or his birthday.
These are the signs our society uses to verify that one is who he or she
says.
Jesus calls the generation “evil” because it refuses to
repent after he preaches to them. His
sign then is his preaching the mercy of God at which humans are to acknowledge
their sins and be forgiven. The city of
Nineveh did exactly that when Jonah preached repentance.
That a generation refuses to repent should not surprise
us. Most everyone has trouble admitting
that she or he has acted wrongly. People
make excuses for their failures to avoid being criticized and chastised. We should note, however, that God loves a
repentant sinner. Any shame we may incur
for sinning is more than compensated for by God’s mercy. But we must trust that God loves us enough to
want to see us correct our ways.
