Looking for signs

Anne O’Brien reads today from the Gospel of Luke (11:29-32) in which Jesus refers to the sign of Jonah.

In his Gospel, Luke says that the crowds of people listening to Jesus continued to get bigger. His words and presence must have been so engaging to people of his generation that they were drawn to him and his teachings.

Anne says this reminds her of our own generation – we have strengths and weaknesses, the age group we belong to, the contributions we make, the footprint we leave with our families, friends, and the connections we have. Like the people of Jesus’ generation, we yearn to see signs that help us clarify the big questions and give answers to our problems.

Anne asks us to consider, ‘How do we as people of faith build up the Church for future generations?  What are the signs for the times of our Church today?’  This reading gives us a lot to reflect on ‘How are we, ourselves, signs of our faith to our family, friends, those we work with and the community at large? Would we attract people to the Church by the way we act and our behaviours?

We need to follow Christ. We need to listen closely to his teachings and learn from his Gospels. We need to ensure we are signs of the living faith to those around us. It is not always an easy task.

As today’s reflection concludes, Anne reminds us that we are all in this together. She is sure that, together, we can bring authentic witness to the Gospel and be people of faith who build up the church for future generations.