Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
Cain said to his brother Abel, «Let us go out in the field». When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord asked Cain, «Where is your brother Abel?». He answered, «I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?». The Lord then said: «What have you done! Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil! Therefore you shall be banned from the soil that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth».
Cain said to the Lord: «My punishment is too great to bear. Since you have now banished me from the soil, and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, anyone may kill me at sight». «Not so!», the Lord said to him. «If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold». So the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight. Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth. «God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel», she said, «because Cain slew him».
«Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?».
«You sit speaking against your brother; against your mother’s son you spread rumors. When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes».
“Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given”
Fr. Jordi POU i Sabater (Sant Jordi Desvalls, Girona, Spain)Today the Gospel does not seem to tell us much about Jesus or about ourselves. “Why does this generation seek a sign?” (Mk 8:12). Saint John Paul II, commenting on this episode in the life of Jesus Christ, says: “Jesus invites us to discern the words and deeds which bear witness to (are a “sign of”) the imminent coming of the Father’s kingdom.” It seems that the Jews who question Jesus lack the ability or the will to discern that sign which is in fact all the actions, deeds and words of the Lord.
Even today, we ask Jesus for signs: to make his presence known in the world or to tell us in an obvious way how we should act. The Pope makes us see that Jesus Christ’s refusal to give a sign to the Jews – and therefore to us too – is due to his wanting to “overturn the worldly logic aimed at seeking signs that would confirm the human desire for self-affirmation and power.” The Jews did not want just any sign, but one that would indicate that Jesus was the kind of Messiah they were waiting for. They were not waiting for the one who came to save them, but the one who came to reassure their vision of how things should be done.
In short, when the Jews of Jesus's time, as well as Christians today, ask for a sign—in one way or another—what we do is ask God to act in our way, the way we believe to be most correct, and which in fact supports our way of thinking. And God, who knows and can do more (and that is why we ask in the Lord's Prayer that "his" will be done), has His ways, even if it is not easy for us to understand them. But He, who allows himself to be found by all who seek Him, will also, if we ask for discernment, make us understand how He works and how we can distinguish His signs today.
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“There are three ways for wisdom or prudence to abound in you: if you confess your sins, if you give thanks and praise, and if your speech is edifying.” (Saint Bernard)
“‘If you are God's Son...’. He is ‘tested’ just as products are tested. The arrogance that would make God an object and impose our laboratory conditions upon him is incapable of finding Him.” (Benedict XVI)
“The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him (…). Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of demons.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 548)
