(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
Do you like signs? What is a good sign that your ought to get out of bed in the morning? If you look for a voice that booms out, like thunder, “Got out of bed!” you probably won’t get that sign. An alarm clock may go off, or you may wake up on your own, or you may interpret some other more mundane thing as a call to get up, but a flamboyant sign you will probably not receive.
Jesus tells us not to expect some great and grandiose sign that the time has come. He wants us to use our head and pay attention to the ordinary signs around us.
The prophet Jonah tried to run away from the Lord. He headed for the Iberian Peninsula, the farthest point in Europe from his home. He did not obey the ordinary signs about him so God sent an extraordinary one that forced Jonah to listen once more to ordinary signs. Jonah then came from the farthest corner of the earth to preach to the people of Nineveh and the people of Nineveh believed his word and were converted.
The Queen of the South, a pagan woman, came, like many wise women, to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Jesus might ask us what keeps us from seeking the wisdom of God speaking through Jesus and which is better than that of Solomon.
Both the Queen and Jonah came from the ends of the earth. The Queen brought the wealth of the East. Jonah becomes a sign of the resurrection as God rescues him from the raging seas and a huge fish deposits him safely on land after having been buried for three days in the belly of the fish. Jesus likewise came from the ends of the earth, first as he came in birth and then when he rose from the tomb.
The story has several morals. If you look for spectacular signs, you show a lack of faith: God is revealed daily in small ways. Women, like the Queen of the South, show great wisdom in their lives. Even reluctant prophets, like Jonah, can point to the resurrection.
The Queen of the South and the prophet Jonah come to us from the annals for the Bible, but they made no impression on the history books of the world. In other words, they were not extraordinary spectacular signs, but ordinary signs of someone greater.
An evil and unfaithful generation wants mighty signs and wonders. The faithful generation is content with the ordinary, everyday signs that abound in our lives.