DEMAND FOR A SIGN

LUKE 11:29-32

"This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah." Some take this to mean the three days and three nights that Jonah was inside the belly of the large fish, comparing it to the three days Jesus was in the darkness of the tomb after his crucifixion and death. But Jesus is not referring to his three days in the tomb, he is referring to the sign of the Ninevite's repentance after Jonah preached to them and they turned to the Lord God.

Jonah resented the Lord's love for the Ninevites because they were different, they were not the Chosen People, and did not deserve the Lord's attention. Only Jews deserved that honor and Jonah, as a Jew, was reluctant to preach to them. However, it took only a day of his preaching to make the Ninevites realize how far they were from the Lord and repented. Instead of celebrating his overnight success, Jonah was angry. He did not realize he was a sign of God's mercy and love.

Like the Jews in Luke's Gospel, we demand signs, too, so the Church has given them to us with different liturgical seasons. Lent is a sign that it is time for change, a time for repentance, a time to think about returning to the Lord with our whole heart. The first sign of Lent is putting ashes on our foreheads as a symbol of repentance and mourning. The Ninevites did something similar--they proclaimed a fast and wore sackcloth to show outwardly their repentance and mourning. Are we so different from the Ninevites? Obviously not, if we need the season of Lent to make us think about changing our daily lives.

Some take the putting on of ashes seriously and others think of it as only a symbol of something done for one day--Ash Wednesday. Our smudged foreheads show the world we are faithful Catholics. However, there are those who only come to church on Ash Wednesday, Easter and Christmas. They don't feel the need to repent, therefore, nothing changes in their lives. They wash their faces and continue the rest of the year as they were before Ash Wednesday.

Ashes should be the outward sign that we repent and look toward a new life with our Risen Lord. As we darken our foreheads, we should pray that we can overcome the darkness of sin in our everyday lives. Forty days is not enough time to accomplish this, so we should strive to change at least one thing about ourselves during Lent. Once the 40 days of Lent are over, will we forget the sign of ashes as a sign of a path to new life? Like those "faithful" Ash Wednesday Catholics, will we continue as though ashes are only an external symbol instead of a sign for inner change?

At Baptism, we were anointed on the forehead with oil after being plunged into the holy water as the sign of entering into the tomb with Christ and rising with him into a new life. On Ash Wednesday we acknowledge that we have not been true to our baptismal promises. There is no water, no entering of the tomb, no rising until Easter. There are only the dark ashes to remind us that we need to re-commit ourselves to follow Christ fully. May this Lent be a sign to you that you can overcome the darkness of sin and rise with Christ into a new life with Him.

Alma Maish