Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?”

It is ironic that the crowds following Jesus ask him to give them a sign so that they will believe. They had just witnessed a miracle that feed them and here they are asking for another one, just to be sure. Isn’t that the temptation we all have in life? We want certainty. We want everything handed to us on a silver platter. We avoid risks and leaps of faith. We avoid those things which might require us to sacrifice or suffer. We are blind to the Will of God and timid in carrying it out when we are faced with it. No matter how many signs God sends us we always have the final choice about whether we will follow Him or not. We can always come up with excuses as to why we can’t accomplish His Will. In the end, these excuses lead us nowhere just as the excuses and complaints of the Jews resulted in their wandering in the desert for forty years. We are faced with the same choice as the Jews and if we are obstinate and only seek certainty and comfort, then we will never reach the Promised Land because to know, love, and serve God and His children is to risk everything for them without excuse or complaint.

What signs are we asking for from God? Do we really need them or do we already know in our hearts what He is asking of us? How can we open our eyes and ears to the daily miracles that surround us and show us how to live Christ-like lives?

O Lord, we believe in you and want only to accomplish your will.

Amen.