Some days it feels as if the world is one long demand for proof. We want guarantees before we commit, outcomes before we risk, certainty before we love. Today’s readings answer that impulse in an unexpected way: they do not offer more proofs; they announce a Person and a path—Jesus Christ risen—and invite the “obedience of faith” that becomes its own luminous sign (Romans 1:1-7; Luke 11:29-32; Psalm 98).
The Gospel Promised, the People Belonging (Romans 1:1-7)
Paul opens Romans by anchoring the Gospel in God’s long fidelity—promised through the prophets, fulfilled in “his Son,” descended from David “according to the flesh,” and “established as Son of God in power … through resurrection from the dead” (Rom 1:2-4). From this center flows a mission: “Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith” among all nations—including you and me (Rom 1:5-6).
Two notes sound through this opening:
- Belonging: “Called to belong to Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:6). In an age of fractured identities and competing loyalties, Paul’s first word is not a task but a relationship. To belong to Christ is not to be swallowed up; it is to be named, held, and sent.
- Holiness in the ordinary: “Called to be holy” (Rom 1:7). Holiness here is not a rarefied ideal; it is the shape of everyday fidelity—parenting with patience, integrity at work, courage in illness, forgiveness when misunderstood.
St. Ambrose, who loved to preach Christ’s divinity and the Spirit’s power, would remind us that obedience of faith is not servility but freedom aligned with Reality: the risen Lord is “something greater than Solomon” (Lk 11:31). When Christ speaks, His word carries not only wisdom but authority to heal. The question beneath every other question becomes: Will I let His wisdom overrule my self-made systems of control?
The Sign of Jonah in an Age of Endless Signs (Luke 11:29-32)
Jesus names our era with piercing clarity: “This generation … seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah” (Lk 11:29). The Ninevites repented at Jonah’s preaching; the Queen of the South traveled far to hear Solomon (Lk 11:31-32). Neither had the fullness of what we have: the crucified and risen Christ, the Scriptures in our hands, the sacraments readily available. If they responded to a lesser light, how much more are we invited to respond to the Light Himself?
In a world of dashboards, notifications, and metrics, we can become addicted to what is measurable and miss what is meaningful. The sign given is not a spectacle but the Resurrection—God’s definitive “Yes” to His Son and to our hope. That sign calls for a response as concrete as the Ninevites’: repentance that changes behavior.
St. John Chrysostom insisted that genuine repentance is visible: it is almsgiving that heals the wounds of the poor, speech purified from slander, and habits reordered toward love. If we ask for a sign from God, He often asks for a sign from us: show Me your change of heart in the way you reconcile, reorder your time, and redistribute your goods.
Try this today:
- Make one reconciliation you have postponed.
- Offer a hidden act of generosity—no announcement, no receipt for your ego.
- Fast from cynicism; speak one word of hope where you usually complain.
Harden Not Your Hearts (Psalm 95:8; Luke 11:29-32)
“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:8). Hardness often hides in respectable places: endless postponement, selective listening, conditional surrender. The remedy is simple, repeated, and powerful:
- Daily assent: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening” (cf. 1 Sam 3:9). Then do the next right thing.
- Small obediences: a kept promise, a closed browser tab, a turned cheek, a grateful word.
- Confession and restitution: repentance that repairs builds trust—in relationships and within the soul.
Psalm 98 assures us that God “has made his salvation known… in the sight of the nations” (Ps 98:2). We do not manufacture hope; we consent to it. We do not conjure grace; we cooperate with it. Gratitude clears the way: “Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds” (Ps 98:1). The new song is not primarily a melody; it is a life transposed into mercy.
Greater Than Solomon, Nearer Than Our Fears
Jesus declares, “There is something greater than Solomon here” (Lk 11:31)—greater wisdom for our confusion, greater mercy for our failures, greater power for our fatigue. Ambrose once held even an emperor to the standard of the Gospel; in a quieter but no less courageous way, we are invited to let Christ’s wisdom overrule our timelines, our grudges, and our self-protective narratives.
What might that look like this week?
- Trade one hour of scrolling for one hour of Scripture, beginning with Romans 1. Read slowly; let belonging replace anxiety (Rom 1:6-7).
- Make your life a sign of Jonah: repent quickly, forgive promptly, and let your choices preach before your words do (Lk 11:30, 32).
- Turn Psalm 98 into practice: name three “wondrous deeds” God has done, then act in a way that echoes them for someone else today (Ps 98:1-3).
Grace and peace—that is Paul’s blessing (Rom 1:7). Receive them as gift, and return them as witness. The world may still ask for signs. God has given the decisive one: the empty tomb. When our hearts yield in the obedience of faith, our ordinary lives become credible echoes of that extraordinary morning—for the sake of His name, among all the nations (Rom 1:5).