＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Romans 1:1-7

 From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,

an apostle called and set apart for God’s Good News,  the very promises he foretold through his prophets in the sacred Scriptures, regarding his Son, who was born in the flesh a descendant of David, and has been recognized as the Son of God endowed with Power, upon rising from the dead through the Holy Spirit.

Through him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and for the sake of his Name, we received grace and mission in all the nations, for them to accept the faith.  All of you, the elected of Christ, are part of them, you, the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy: May God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace.

 

Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

The Lord has made known his salvation.

 

 ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Luke 11:29-32

 As the crowd increased, Jesus began to speak in this way, “People of the present time are evil people. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.

 As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation.  The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here there is greater than Solomon.  

 The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah’s preaching made them turn from their sins, and here there is greater than Jonah.

 

Gospel Reflection：

When we are not sure, we ask for signs for assurance. This we do from time to time. They seem to give us greater certainty in what we believe. That is why apparitions, miracles and other sensational events seem to be important not only for the contemporaries of Jesus but also for us.

We flock to places or people that generate these astonishing signs. And this is where people should use a lot of their spiritual sense. For these could be faked by unscrupulous persons who want to deceive by riding on our desire for confirmatory signs.

Yet Jesus insists that the real sign is his own person. In Him God has become a human being, and who sees Him sees the Father. Looking for other signs will not get us nowhere. For He is the sign of all signs of the Father to humankind.