Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
DEMANDING SIGNS FROM HEAVEN
Sin, even murder, shows its ugly head right after the loss of paradise. Or does the story express the conflict between two cultures, the sedentary life based on the land (Cain) and the nomadic life of the shepherd Abel? Yet, for his punishment, Cain becomes himself a fugitive nomad.
In the Gospel, the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign that his authority came from heaven. But we too look often for signs and reassurances. Are the words of Jesus not assurance enough? Does not faith consist in trusting him? Our sign is the life and the message of Jesus.
Reading 1 Gn 4:1-15, 25
Adam slept with Eve his wife. She conceived and had Cain. She said, “I’ve gotten a man, with God’s help!”
Then she had another baby, Abel. Abel was a herdsman and Cain a farmer.
Time passed. Cain brought an offering to God from the produce of his farm. Abel also brought an offering, but from the firstborn animals of his herd, choice cuts of meat. Godliked Abel and his offering, but Cain and his offering didn’t get his approval. Cain lost his temper and went into a sulk.
God spoke to Cain: “Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.”
Cain had words with his brother. They were out in the field; Cain came at Abel his brother and killed him.
God said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, “How should I know? Am I his babysitter?”
God said, “What have you done! The voice of your brother’s blood is calling to me from the ground. From now on you’ll get nothing but curses from this ground; you’ll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. You’ll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You’ll be a homeless wanderer on Earth.”
Cain said to God, “My punishment is too much. I can’t take it! You’ve thrown me off the land and I can never again face you. I’m a homeless wanderer on Earth and whoever finds me will kill me.”
God told him, “No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over.” God put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him.
Adam slept with his wife again. She had a son whom she named Seth. She said, “God has given me another child in place of Abel whom Cain killed.” And then Seth had a son whom he named Enosh.
Gospel Mk 8:11-13
When they arrived, the Pharisees came out and started in on him, badgering him to prove himself, pushing him up against the wall. Provoked, he said, “Why does this generation clamor for miraculous guarantees? If I have anything to say about it, you’ll not get so much as a hint of a guarantee.”
He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.”
Prayer
Lord God,
forgive us that in our weak faith,
we ask sometimes for signs and wonders.
We know that you are our Father,
but it is not always easy for us
to recognize your loving presence.
Give us eyes of faith to see the sign
that you are with us in Jesus and his message.
We say so reluctantly, for it is painful:
purify our trust in you and in Jesus,
that we may become more mature Christians,
who love you through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Reflection:
13 February 2023
Mark 8:11-13
Miracles all around, but recognizing none!
Mark presents a moment of frustration in the life of Jesus. He is frustrated at the stiff-necked attitude of the religious leaders and takes a deep sigh. The wisdom of the elders tells us that a sigh or deep breath is an excellent way of stress relief. Today’s gospel teaches the value of patience, especially in frustrations and stress. The Lord asks, “Why does this generation look for a sign?”. They knew that Jesus had the power to perform miracles. Mark is clear about the intentions of the religious leaders – “Hoping to embarrass him.”
The Pharisees wanted a show, a miracle. Ultimately it is the same temptation that the devil offers Jesus in the desert, asking him to do something —The devil would ask Jesus to turn the stones into bread so that he could satisfy his hunger or Jump down from the pinnacle of the temple to make a spectacular show of his might so that people would instantly believe him. If our understanding of the temptations of Jesus is just those three in the desert, we are mistaken.
The forty days of Jesus in the desert represent the entire time the Lord spent in this world, where temptations were a constant reality. One such instance is the confrontation with the Pharisees in today’s gospel. As in the temptation story, here, the Pharisees take up the role of the devil and ask for a sign from heaven. Jesus does not care to answer the devil in the desert, which is exactly what he does here in his response to the Pharisees. “No sign will be given to this generation!”
In asking Jesus for a sign, however, the Pharisees confuse God’s way of acting with the way of a magician. Pope Francis explains that “God does not act as a magician. God’s way is the way of patience”. “Every time we go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we sing a hymn to God’s patience. The Lord carries us on his shoulders, with great patience”.
In the previous chapters, Mark had narrated numerous miracles of Jesus – the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, and then the multitudes, the leper, the deaf and dump, the blind, feeding the multitudes – miracles were aplenty. But the Pharisees failed to see them. Are we searching for spectacular signs in the sky or our neighbourhood so our faith could be strengthened? The mighty hand of God is at work within us and all around us, yet we fail to see them.