Asking for Signs

WORD 2day: Monday, 28th week in Ordinary time

October 14, 2019: Romans 1:1-7; Luke 11:29-32

'Asking for signs' - most of our prayers, consciously or unconsciously, are asking for signs; they are directly or indirectly asking for miracles. Is it that bad, or 'wicked' as Jesus calls it today, to ask for a miracle? Personally, I believe it is not! But what is bad and what gets on the nerves of Jesus today is the stubbornness or the blindness that does not allow one to see the miracles, the signs that are present right in front of our eyes. 

Those who questioned Jesus were only to look keenly into what was happening right in front of them, to understand that Jesus was the Word, the Good news of God prepared through the ages. The Word made flesh and living amidst them, demonstrating to them in all ways the tremendous majesty and love of God. This is what St. Paul tries to communicate in the letter to the Romans as we read today. 

All through history, people have always been demanding a sign, a miracle. Even the most rational of persons is in some way or the other susceptible to this tendency of curiosity. It is sufficient to look around and perceive the numerous accounts of certain curious happenings. The lesson we need to learn today is certainly not to convince ourselves that there are no miracles and those are merely some infantile imaginations. No, it is surprisingly the contrary, according to Jesus. Miracles abound for those who are ready to see them around. 

Here it sounds opportune to cite the famous saying (of Stuart Chase): 'For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.'