Still Asking for a Sign

Now I can really identify with the people who are speaking with Jesus in the gospel. He told them in yesterday's gospel that they seek him not because they saw the sign but because they ate the bread and were filled.

If they saw Jesus multiply the loaves what sign did they not see? Yesterday, I reflected on the signs I ask for when I want to be assured of God's love for me or that I am on the right path. Today, I am aware of how much I do not see and how much I continue to ask for the same sign over and over. The people who saw Jesus mulitply the loaves and who ate their fill, now ask Jesus again for a sign. The sign they ask for is one like the one Moses did in the desert when they had bread miraculously and ate their fill. Isn't that the sign they just saw? How come they don't see it?

I keep asking to be fed in various ways. I am like this crowd of people. Jesus tells them that he is the bread. That doesn't seem to be enough for them or for me. Jesus says that if they accept him and eat this bread they will never be hungry again. Now that would be a sign--never to hunger again. I claim to believe in Jesus, I receive Jesus in the Eucharist. But I am always hungering for more evidence that I am loved. Obviously I do not really see the sign.

Today, I want to be aware of all the hungers that haunt me and keep me from seeing that Jesus is present in my life and that there is no need to long for any other sign.

Signs
Jesus told the people who found him after he multiplied the loaves and fed them that they sought him not because they saw the sign but because they ate and were filled. I have been thinking about what it means to see the sign. They saw him multiply the loaves. They knew that they were fed. What else were they supposed to see? What am I supposed to be seeing?

I do seek signs all the time. I want to have confirmation of the fact that God loves me and that I am on the right path and that the choice I am considering at any moment is the right one. But I think what I am looking for is seeing multiplications and being filled. A good reflection for the day might be to ponder whether, without the bread and the being filled, I can know that God is present and that the power of God's love and fidelity fills the earth. Can I have faith and trust in the midst of what seems arid?

Of this I am sure--God provides the sign. What is lacking is the faith that sees the sign without the kind of rewards I often seek.

On the Road



Two disceples are on the way to Emmaus and Jesus joins them. They are so disappointed about the happenings of the last days--Jesus' death, the empty tomb, etc.--that they do not recognize Jesus. Isn't that typical of our lives? We have so many concerns that we forget the scriptures that have spoken to us, the beliefs we have about life, the nurishment we receive from community and so many other things. We do not even recognize the guidance God sends in our everyday journeying.


Today, I asked myself what it would take to open my eyes. Have you ever had your eyes opened to the truth that was always before you? How did it happen?


The other thought I have is around "Were not our hearts burning within us when he spoke to us on the way?" There have indeed been times when the scriptures have spoken to me in a way that truly moved my heart. I think it is important to remember occasionally what those passages (or maybe it is events) were and to go back and recapture the moments.


God provides what we need to come to see and to love.