Monday, July 20, 2020 - 16th week of Ordinary Time - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 12, 38-42 - Today, do not close your heart, but listen to the voice of the Lord.

Having heard, or being eyewitnesses to the miracles performed by Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees still want to test Him by asking Him for signs to prove that He is the the one sent by God, the Messiah who is to save Israel. Yet they were studying the Holy Scriptures, they should be able to understand the book of Jonah. Jonah was swallowed up by a fish and then spit out after three days and three nights to go and accomplish the mission of conversion in the city of Nineveh. Jonah is only a symbol, because Christ, too, was buried for three days before He was resurrected, reason enough for the whole world to turn to God. Jesus also takes the example of King Solomon, who was so renowned for his wisdom that the queen of the south made the trip just to listen to him. While Jesus, Wisdom par excellence did not touch the curiosity of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus expects them to repent and accept that He is the Redeemer, promised by God to save the world.

We, ourselves, are sometimes tempted to ask for signs, to demand so many miracles, to the point of sailing from church to church in search of the one that can make us rich spontaneously, or the one that heals instantly; and the confession that does not do so is considered false, not authentic. Whereas the purpose of the authentic Church, according to its conception by Christ, is to bring men to the Kingdom of God, that men may be saved and happy in heaven. Our daily life is already an expression of God's love for us. We must therefore feel this love well by examining ourselves each day before God and by maintaining an intimate relationship with Him through prayer. Amen.