Today the gentle—but firm—voice of Christ warns those who think they already have a “ticket” to Paradise simply because they say, “Jesus, how beautiful you are!” Christ paid the price of our salvation without excluding anyone, but there are some essential conditions. One of them is this: we cannot expect Christ to do everything while we do nothing. That would not only be foolish—it would be prideful and wicked. This is why the Lord uses the word “evil” today: “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah” (Lk 11:29). He calls it “evil” because it insists on seeing spectacular miracles before offering even a reluctant act of faith.

Even in His hometown of Nazareth, Jesus refused to yield to such demands. His countrymen, so full of expectations, wanted Him to prove His mission as prophet and Messiah through dazzling signs—something they could admire as spectators, comfortably seated, as if in a theater. But that is not how salvation works. The Lord offers salvation only to those who submit to Him through an obedience born of faith—faith that waits, trusts, and remains silent. God asks for that prior faith (which, in fact, He Himself has planted in us as a seed of grace).

A witness against believers who cling to a caricature of faith will be the Queen of the South, who came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. And yet, “there is something greater than Solomon here” (Lk 11:31). As the saying goes, “There's none so deaf as those who will not hear.” Christ, condemned to death, will rise on the third day. To those who recognize Him, He offers salvation; but for those who reject Him—when He returns as Judge—nothing will remain but to hear the sentence of their own stubborn unbelief.

Let us welcome Him now, with faith and love that come before seeing. Then we will recognize Him, and He will recognize us as His own. As the Servant of God, blessed Don Alberione, once said: “God does not waste light; He kindles little lamps only as needed—but always at the right time.”