The Call to Repentance

Gospel: Luke 11: 29-32

We seek a sign, just as the people of Jesus' day did.  We get the same answer: no sign will be given to us except the sign of Jonah.  We misinterpret this sentence.  We believe it refers to Jonah being in the whale for three days, just as Jesus would be in the belly of the earth for three days, only to rise again.  But this is false.  Jesus makes it clear that the sign of Jonah is much more uncomfortable for us than we would like to admit or accept.

Jonah is called by God to to the Gentile city of Nineveh to invite them to repentance.  Jonah reluctantly does so, and to his chagrin the people do repent, at a time when Israel was ignoring and even killing prophets who brought them the same invitation.  Jesus too came to invite us to repentance, and as in Jonah's day those who accepted the invitation were somewhat surprising, while those who did not accept the invitation were allegedly self-righteous and religious.  

The invitation to repentance is extended to us in our day.  We are invited to do so through works of mercy for others - to the hungry and thirsty; to the naked and homeless; to the sick and imprisoned; to the immgrant, refugee, and migrant.  And, by and large, we find similar patterns of acceptance and rejection of this invitation.  The self-righteous religious spurn the invitation while others take up the message of Jesus and carry it out in their lives.  Lent is our time to make this choice.