Looking for Signs
Read Time: 4 minutes
“Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matthew 12: 38-39
Recently, I was talking to a friend who was interested in my deep faith in Jesus and my adherence to the Roman Catholic Church, and its theology. When I asked what it would take for them to believe in the Christian message, he said it would take a sign from heaven, by which, he explained, he meant an angel appearing, Jesus returning, or a Marian apparition. Of course, I mentioned that none of these appealed to me just yet, as they would pre-figure something really big happening soon. We laughed and went on with our conversation about other things.
But, later upon reflection I realized that my real disagreement with anyone who wants a sign from God in order to believe is that the signs have already been given. Most people see signs of God every day and still refuse to believe.
If people only looked up from their phones for a moment and realized that they are alive and it is a miracle, they would have an inkling of God’s great creative power. The sun, the moon, the stars all speak of God’s creation. The wind in the trees, the flowers, the bees, the animals, all benefit us, and we do nothing to bring them into being. Who brings all things into being? God.
Bishop Robert Barron is fond of saying that “Catholicism is first and foremost a way of seeing.” I take him to mean that most Catholics look and see God everywhere in all we are and all we do – and it is all unmerited grace. Gerard Manly Hopkins, the great poet and Jesuit priest, says it like this:
“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil.”
I like to think that the title to the recent movie called, “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” is actually a great description of our God. Everywhere, in all things, holding everything in grace. Those who only look for signs may never be able to perceive what is right in from of them, around them, and in them.
As for signs, Ruth Burrows, a Carmelite nun who authored a wonderful book called, “The Essence of Prayer,” says there are very few signs given. In every generation, she asserts, there may only be one or two true prophets. The only true sign that God is at work in Ruth’s view is the answer to the question, “Am I becoming more selfless.” If the answer is “yes,” you can be fairly sure that God is at work in you. Then you will be able to truly see.