“Why does this generation seek a sign?" | Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “'You sit speaking against your brother; against your mother’s son you spread rumors. When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.' Offer to God a sacrifice of praise."

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (6:17, 20-26, today's readings)

“Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

The Pharisees come to Jesus asking for a sign from heaven. At this, Mark says, Jesus "sighed from the depth of his spirit." After he tells them no sign will be given to them, he gets in the boat again and goes to the other shore, continuing his mission elsewhere. Jesus sighs, seeing as God sees, the blindness of his people. Just as God warned Cain about "a demon lurking at his door" and the psalmist calls out those who "sit speaking against your brother," Jesus sees the evil we are capable of that he brings out into the light.

God sees because he is God and we are not. Even in the presence of the Incarnate Word, the sight of faith sometimes fails to function. Jesus is not just a sign but the visible sign of the invisible God who delivers for us his ultimate plan for salvation.

God, help me see as you see. Through the truth of the risen Christ, I am set free to know and worship you, to find meaning even as I ponder the mystery of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection. As Saint John Paul II said, "Through this revelation, men and women are offered the ultimate truth about their own life and about the goal of history." I don't see you, Lord, as I ought. In my shortcomings, strengthen my faith that you alone are the Lord, to offer you a sacrifice of praise in making yourself known through the incarnation of your Son. "I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus, I trust in you!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.