Mt 12,38-42 – Monday of the XVI Week of Ordinary Time
«Master, we want to see a sign from you». How many times does the request of the scribes and Pharisees, which we read in today’s Gospel, coincide with ours? We too very often ask God for a sign, a proof, something evident that finally allows us to trust Him. But the continuous search for signs can hide a lack of trust. We want to see first and then believe. We want to have guarantees before trusting us. Yet the worst thing that can happen in a love relationship is to continually ask for proof. No love can survive if it has to prove at every moment that it is true.
This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t give us signs. On the contrary, our life is littered with it. The problem is that very often we only look for the extraordinary ones, those capable of moving us or clearly imposing themselves in our eyes. We would like a sensational answer, an unequivocal miracle, something that eliminates all doubt. And so we risk not noticing the small signs through which God accompanies us every day. A word that arrived at the right time, a person we met when we needed it, a strength we didn’t think we had, a door that opens, an unexpected consolation. They are small details that perhaps others, in our place, would be able to recognize and cherish.
Us instead we risk considering them coincidences and continuing to ask for something greater. Jesus says that no other sign will be given to that generation except the sign of Jonah. Ultimately he is reminding us that the decisive sign has already been given to us: his death and resurrection. God doesn’t have to continually show us that he loves us. He has already done it by giving himself up for us.
