Something greater than Solomon is here

Ex. 14:5-18, Mt. 12:38-42. How hard it is to really trust in God, when the chips are down and the risk is real. We might feel like the haggard Israelites, who after escaping Egypt were still fearful that God would abandon them in the desert. Unless immediate solutions are available to put them beyond all risk, the refugees put this bitter question to Moses in today's first reading: “Were there no graves in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert?” Unless we are determined to reject slavery at all costs, we will not take the risks of faith. Instinctively, we know that some risks are unavoidable; they are an ingredient of life. Unless spouses take the risk of commitment “for better or for worse” sooner or later they abandon fidelity to one another. At crucial times, we must summon our faith that God does care when His people are in trouble. Today, we are challenged to sustain that spirit of hopeful faith, even if the fulfilment of our hope is long delayed.
How disappointed Jesus must have felt in today's Gospel, when people showed interest only in miracles, instead wanting a deeper relationship with God.

Already Jesus had shown great kindness and concern for people’s needs, but they wanted more than series of cures or words of wisdom about being poor in spirit or pure of heart. He mentions the Ninevites’ response to Jonah and how many of them were converted by his preaching; and the Queen of the Sheba’s admiration for the wisdom of Solomon. These foreigners, even the worst of them, repented and were converted yet “you have a greater than Solomon here.” Unless we take the risk of faith, miracles will prove nothing to us. Jesus points to the sign of Jonah, “three days and three nights in the belly of the whale.” We must also risk going to the depths and letting ourselves be as it were “swallowed up” by the will of God and taken wherever God wants us, as happened to Jonah. Then we will experience the sweet reward of long fidelity.

May the Lord be with us in all our trails, may He never allow us to fall away from Him and give us the courage to forgive others as He forgives us our trespasses! Amen!!! Good morning and have a fruitful week!!!