Saturday in the Fifth Week of Lent
Have you ever received or asked for a sign from God? The Pharisees did and Jesus replied, “An evil generation seeks for a sign” (Mt. 12:38f). But signs from God are common throughout the Bible and in the lives of saints and sinners. In the Catholic Catechism we read that “In human life, signs and symbols occupy an important place. [And] the same holds true for [our] relationship with God” (#1146).
So the Pharisees asked for a sign. But later they complained, “What are we to do? For this man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this everyone will believe in him.” “So, from that day on they planned to kill him.” They didn’t want any more signs! There were too many. But Jesus blessed us with even more, the seven sacraments, those visible signs of grace today that make us sharers in God’s divine nature.1
Sometimes God even gives personal signs of his will for us. When I was in second grade I heard a voice foretelling what I would become. It was a voice and not just a thought. It surprised and frightened me so much that I began to cry. But I never forgot it. Much later, when I was a senior in high school, I asked for a particular sign of his will for me. God gave it to guide me here. There have been other signs from God of his personal love and guiding hand in my life for which I am grateful. But what about you, have you ever received or asked for a sign from God?
- “We entreat your majesty most humbly, O Lord, that as you feed us with the nourishment which comes from the most holy Body and Blood of your Son, so you may make us sharers of his divine nature.” Prayer after Communion for Saturday in the Fifth Week of Lent.