Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11, 29-32
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
Signs
1. Evil generation. Those around you might be excessively demanding and continually ask for something more of you. The problem is when your life is reduced to satisfying the lives of others, because you will never be able to please everyone. Many times, as a priest, I’ve sacrificed my time and wellbeing in order to satisfy my parishioners, and yet many have found a reason to criticize me for something. But that’s understandable, because many people look only at their tiny world and they don’t consider whether you’re well or not, they only look for you to satisfy their needs. There will always be people who are mean, but you shouldn’t get involved with them. Don’t feed evil and don’t get caught up in it.
2. Jonah. A prophet who doesn’t want to do God’s will. When you´re going through a storm in life, at times there are people who are unmoved by it, and furthermore, they may have caused the storm. If that’s the case, it’s necessary to do what they did with Jonah (Book of Jonah, chapter 1), to hurl them off the boat. There are times when it’s necessary to remove from your life those people who create storms and want to see you defeated and beaten down.
3. Something greater. We will always find people who make our lives easier and encourage us to go on, but we have to learn to listen. We shouldn’t be self-sufficient and, above all, we must learn that we can’t handle everything. Let yourself be helped and must learn to accept the advice of those who truly love you.
Don’t forget that something good is on the way!
God bless you and guard you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
