He gave a deep sigh and said, “Why do the people of this present time ask for a sign? Truly,
I say to you, no sign shall be given to this people.” Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went to the other side of the lake.
Reflect
“True miracle.” We do not need to look up in the sky while waiting for some spectacular
movements of heavenly bodies in order to experience a true miracle. We only need to feel
and listen to the voice of God speaking within us, tirelessly inviting us to conversion.
Today’s Gospel tells of the Pharisees arguing with Jesus. While trying to embarrass Jesus,
they asked him to perform a sign (semeion) from heaven. The Gospel tradition commonly
refers to the sign as a miracle performed by Jesus. The Gospel passage for today is
preceded by the feeding of the four thousand people out of seven loaves of bread; and yet,
the Pharisees in today’s Gospel were asking for a heavenly sign. Their hearts were not
open to really see God’s invitation to conversion. Jesus refused to perform an external
sign because they were never ready to listen to God’s voice speaking inside their hearts.
External miracles will always be futile unless an internal miracle happens first within a person,
unless a person experiences a change of heart.
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