Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (12: 38-42) in which the Pharisees and teachers of the Law ask Jesus to show them a sign.
Fr Paul says in this Gospel, we hear the use of the mysterious preferred title ‘Son of Man’ and Jesus talks of the sign of the prophet Jonah. In actual fact, he is referring to his Resurrection. We make that comparison of the three days and three nights in the belly of the whale and then we hear of the three days and three nights in the earth. It is about the message of Jesus, the Resurrection and who he is. Jonah’s mission to Nineveh was all about conversion. The city listened to the message. It repented and it did penance. Then we hear about Solomon who was the figure for Wisdom, and we hear that the Queen of the South recognises the God-given wisdom of Solomon. After a couple of stories about the teaching authority of Jesus we are presented, in contrast to the Pharisees, with two cases of response to Divine Wisdom. The Pharisees, though, refuse to recognise God’s teaching when it comes and, yet, outsiders recognise that teaching immediately. So mindful of today’s Gospel, Fr Paul says, we might ask ourselves as the week begins, ‘Do I recognise the wisdom of God in my life?’.
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