Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
The sign of the heaven
The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore. Mk 8,11-13
These pharisees who ask to Jesus “a sign from the heaven”, to understand who he really is, are exposing their inability to understand the signs of the times, as the disciples, who have not realized the significance of the multiplication of the loaves, do not understand such signs. Jesus refuses to give a sign, because the sign has meaning only if it anticipates the reality of which it is a sign; but when the reality is already present, the sign has no more meaning. It would be like to give the weather forecast on the day itself. Unfortunately, the fact that we constantly need signs in order to believe it is still a problem today. The man is an intelligent animal and as such, he searches the reason for everything which happens. However, with this attitude, which is self righteous, he likely risks to make the mistake of the pharisees: they have their own idea of God and they call signs to confirm what they already believe, not because they are open to the meeting with the Lord. Jesus of Nazareth is not a sign, but a reality which contradicts what the pharisees think and also what we often think. The Lord does not accept that our faith is based on the “signs of power”, but he asks us to continuously take his lordship in the sign of the cross, which is the one of his greatest weakness: it is his ability to become bread every day in the eucharist. It is an awareness which no one owns at the beginning, but which is acquired gradually, over the years. In the early days, when the knowledge of the Lord is poor, we need very clear signs to recognize him in the events of the day. Within the time, however, we acquire the sensitivity of the scouts, who can find a track also by the almost imperceptible signs. During their community experience with Jesus, the disciples did not recognize his lordship even in front of the sign of the multiplication of the loaves. After the Pentecost, however, they have captured it every day also in the sandwich which was on the table.