SEEKING SIGNS OF GOD'S WILL

MONDAY, SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDERINARY TIME

Micah 6:1-4,6-8; Ps 50:5-6,8-9,16-17,21,23; Mt 12:38-42de

Something Greater than Jonah

Before seeking a solution to a problem or an answer to a question, it is usually beneficial to verify that the question is well-posed or the problem is well-articulated. Attempting to answer a wrongly posed question or an ill-articulated problem is to look for what does not exist. The same applies to us when we search for the sign of God with us. We should think of the right indicators or signs to look out for when seeking to witness the presence of God in our lives or in the world. The major concern in our prayers and petitions to God is that of asking for what God is not willing to give. Put differently, it is the problem of asking for what is not good for us or seeking God in a manner that is not in conformity with his word or revelation to us. Again, we recall the command in the Garden of Eden and its implications for us. Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As we have often understood and explained it, the implication is that we are not permitted to be moral agents in isolation from God, but to act morally only and always in communion with the Triune God. The decision on what is good and evil remains a decision we make in communion with God; hence, he gives us the Holy Spirit to bring us into the divine communion.

To commit sin is to make the decision to act away from the will of the Father and the divine communion. For in the heavenly communion, every will is enlightened by the knowledge of the will of the Father, which is Jesus Christ. Both heaven and earth stand expectantly for the Father to reveal his holy will. The devil is the deceiver who deceives us to act away from God’s will and commit sin thereby. To remain in sin is to live in darkness, away from the divine light which is the will of the Father. God consistently reveals his word in order to bring us back to the light and communion he desired for us. He reiterates his desire to have us within his communion through the prophet Micah. “Stand up and let the case begin in the hearing of the mountains, and let the hills hear what you say. Listen, you mountains, to the Lord’s accusation, give ear, you foundations of the earth, for the Lord is accusing his people, pleading against Israel: My people, what have I done to you, how have I been a burden to you? Answer me.” God has placed no other obligation on us than to listen to his word and do it. This, according to the prophet, is what is good for each of us. “What is good has been explained to you, man; this is what the Lord asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.” God wants us to turn our ears and hearts to him so that we have life in fullness.

The reason we failed to understand God’s will is our lack of attention to God. Deceived by the devil, we desire an impossible freedom. We desire to live free from Life; a contradictory desire. We want to live, but not by following the principle of life, which is God’s word. This is the interpretation of the question of the scribes and Pharisees to Jesus Christ. They saw the great works of the Son of Man. They still asked for a sign that would conform to their expectations of the Messiah, and paid no attention to what confirmed what God has revealed about the coming of the Messiah. “‘Master,’ they said, ‘we should like to see a sign from you.’ He replied, ‘It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” The Lord referred to them as an evil and unfaithful generation because they refused to see the signs God was showing them in order to claim ignorance and find excuses to continue in their stubborn and evil ways. When our desires are not upright, we cannot perceive the presence of God expressed or revealed in the events of our lives. Then we become hypocritical in our worship of God. We recite the Commandments of God not in order to do them, but to show off, because our hearts are far removed from our lips. We see God everywhere when we sincerely seek him with all our hearts, minds, and strength.

Let us pray: Show favour, O Lord, to your servants and mercifully increase the gifts of your grace, that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity, they may be ever watchful in keeping your commands. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.