July 18, 2022
(St. Camillus de Lellis, Priest)
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “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.” Mt_12:38-42
We live in a world that’s so filled with information, that sometimes we have to purposely close our eyes and cover our ears just to get a break from it all. Between the tv, the internet, the radio and the newspapers, we’re so bombarded with both lies and truths that it’s sometimes challenging to differentiate between them.
And yet, based on our Christian moral bias, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we often find the difference between Truth and Lie in the media, pretty obvious, especially in today’s culture.
And then, we can go all the way back to the days of the Prophets Micah and Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jonah to see the same thing. They were pleading with the Israelites to come back to the Lord their God. And, all the while, those Israelites would be crying, “Give us a sign,” with their ears covered and their eyes closed.
And the Prophets’ answer would always be the same: “You’ve already had your sign! God saved you from slavery, fed and watered you in the desert, conquered your enemies, and brought you to a land of comfort and food and peace. What more of a sign could you possibly need! If you trust in God and obey His commands, He will continue to feed and to protect you. For He is your Truth in a world of lies!”
And then, when we jump forward another 7-800-years, we see the blind and deaf Pharisees giving Jesus the same silly request: “Show us a sign!” Well, what Jesus did not say was: which ones didn’t count for you? ‘Was it the miraculous healings, raising the dead, walking on water, or feeding the multitudes that you missed?’ . . . ‘Was it the Words of the very same God who saved your ancient forefathers?’ ‘What more of a sign could you possibly need?’
And yet, a sign they would get. But only if they listened like the Ninevites to Jonah, and looked like the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. They would be witness to the Resurrection of Jesus and the Truth of Eternal Life . . . Or, instead, in their blind deafness, they would suffer the judgment of eternal separation from God, just like their ancestors in the Babylonian and Assyrian diasporas.
You know, sometimes the Signs of Truth are all around us. And all we have to do is look and listen.
Maybe it was a Marian vision.
Maybe a Saint who went through the same trials that we’re struggling through.
Maybe a Eucharistic Miracle.
Maybe something as simple as the answer to an unsolvable problem.
– Maybe a Love.
– Maybe a Death.
– Maybe a Light.
Or maybe just that overwhelming feeling of Peace . . .
We don’t need to ask.
Jesus fills us with new Signs with every breath we take,
when we Trust in Him!
St. Camillus pray for us!
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Whispers to the Wind 