When we are very busy, yes, even obsessed with ourselves, we are unable to see goodness in others, (outside ourselves). God is surely present and active in our life, our world. It takes courage to burst out of our own selves to behold his presence and plan in and through others. Yet there are many signs of his presence and love; but if we are not open for him in others, we will suffocate in our own selves.

The presence and call of God are very real in our life, history and the world.

The Ninevites were outside Israel, yet they listened to Jonah's preaching, and responded to God's call to repentance:from the king to the last animal!

Jesus refuses his contemporaries their request for a sign, other than his own person and message he proclaimed, and the person of Jonah and his preaching! The devil too had such a demand in asking Jesus to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple (Lk. 9-11). Jesus refuses to make any show of such feats of power. Today, we witness crowds who rush to "healing" sessions, eager to see miracles of healing happening before their very eyes!

Is personal conversion an urgent task for us? What does the 'sign of Jonah' mean to me, and how do I respond to Jesus?