No sign will be given to this generation

MONDAY 17 FEBRUARY (Mk 8,11-13)

The Psalm reveals that, although the Lord gave signs of salvation, liberation, mercy and great love, the people always remained obstinate in its rebellion: “Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember Your abundant kindnesses, But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name, That He might make His power known. Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness. So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their adversaries; Not one of them was left. Then they believed His words; They sang His praise. They quickly forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But craved intensely in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert. So He gave them their request, But sent a wasting disease among them. When they became envious of Moses in the camp, And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord, The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And engulfed the company of Abiram. And a fire blazed up in their company; The flame consumed the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb And worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, Wonders in the land of Ham And awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them.  Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe in His word” (Cf. Ps 106 (105) 1-48). But the Lord our God never stops showing his mercy.

The love of the Lord never fails. It is an eternal certainty and an immutable divine truth: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His loving kindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, For His loving kindness is everlasting. To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His loving kindness is everlasting; To Him who made the great lights, For His loving kindness is everlasting: The sun to rule by day, For His loving kindness is everlasting, The moon and stars to rule by night, For His loving kindness is everlasting. To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn, For His loving kindness is everlasting, And brought Israel out from their midst, For His loving kindness is everlasting, With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His loving kindness is everlasting. To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, For His loving kindness is everlasting, And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His loving kindness is everlasting; But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His loving kindness is everlasting. To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His loving kindness is everlasting; And gave their land as a heritage, For His loving kindness is everlasting, Even a heritage to Israel His servant, For His loving kindness is everlasting. Who remembered us in our low estate, For His loving kindness is everlasting, And has rescued us from our adversaries, For His loving kindness is everlasting; Who gives food to all flesh, For His loving kindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His loving kindness is everlasting (Ps 136 (135), 1-26). The signs show how great the love of the Lord is. The rationality of man sees in the signs the omnipotence of God’s mercy, but then it is the will that must be converted to the Word. If the heart is of stone, the sign, the test of strength, is useless. But God remains love by eternal nature.

Why does Jesus leave them, get on the boat and leave for the other shore? He leaves them because the Pharisees did not come to believe, but not to believe in Him. They want a sign so that they can take root in their unbelief. All the works of Jesus are a sign of love for their conversion. But their mind is blind and their heart is of stone. There is no sign that might move them. Whatever signs he had given, they would have refused it. He gave the great sign of his resurrection. To deny it they have corrupted the soldiers so that they attested the false. For love Jesus refuses to give the sign. He will give it to them later.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints ensure that we never put Jesus, the Holy One of God, to the test.