A Moment To Pause: Monday 20th July 2026

Welcome to our reflection today with Pauline Thomas from Anglesey, North Wales. Welcome to A Moment to Pause today, the 20th of July. In today's gospel Matthew chapter 12, verses 38-42, we hear the Scribes and Pharisees asking Jesus for a sign. We might look for a sign to confirm if we can trust something or someone as being authentic or a fraud, real or a scam. Jesus is strong in his rebuttal. He says an evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet: “Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale, three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth, three days and three nights.” He goes on to say at the Judgment, the people of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.  He goes on to point out to them that there is something greater than Jonah here.  We are a people on a journey with God who makes all things new. When one is on a journey, one always finds new things. Things one does not know. This scripture questions me: Am I attached to my things, to my ideas? Am I closed? Am I a stationary person or a person on a journey with the God of surprises?  Let us ask the Lord for a heart that loves the law. For the law is God's, but for a heart that also loves the God of surprises. Thanks for joining us this morning.