Homily for Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 2/17/2025)

Good morning. In today’s Gospel, the Pharisee can forward not only to argue with Jesus but they demanded a “sign from heaven to test him.” As we read this passage and reflect on it, we are thinking to ourselves: “What? Wait a minute here? Are the Pharisees really asking Jesus for a sign from heaven?” Did Jesus not just “drive the demon out of [the] daughter” of a Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30)? You know, the Greek woman who responded to Jesus, saying: “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps” (id.). Moreover, did Jesus not heal the deaf man who had a speech impediment by putting “his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue” and said, “Ephphatha!” (Be opened!) (Mark 7:31-37)? 

It is hard to imagine that the Pharisees had not heard about how Jesus fed the four thousand (8:1-10). Yet, here they were, testing him by arguing with him and seeking from him a sign from heaven. This was a replay of the Israelites’ rebellion against God in the desert that angered the Lord God, who said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?” (Numbers 14:11, 22) Even more than that, the Pharisees were telling Jesus to prove himself to them if he wanted to garner their approval or esteem. This is a very dangerous game that they played because they were putting themselves in the role of Satan himself, who tested Jesus in the desert (Mark 1:12-13). Jesus answered Satan, saying: “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God to the test. . . Get away, Satan!” (Matthew 4:7, 10). Similarly, Jesus answered the Pharisees, saying: “Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

In our own lives, how have we tested God that has caused him to “sigh from the depth of his spirit” at our unbelief? In those moments, let us pray - “From the belief that I have to earn Your love, Deliver me Jesus. . . From all suspicion of Your words and promises, Deliver me Jesus. . . ” Or how have we been like Cain, filled with resentment toward God, because we felt that God has favored the “Abels” in our lives more than us? In those moments, let us pray - “From disbelief in Your love and presence, Deliver me Jesus. . . That You always hear me and in your goodness always respond to me, Jesus, I trust in you.” (Litany of Trust https://sistersoflife.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mobile-Litany-of-Trust-English-1.pdf) Therefore, let us not be unbelieving like the Pharisees but, rather, let us take to heart what Jesus says to us, “Everything is possible to one who has faith,” and respond to Christ, saying, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:13-14).

. . .

Gospel of the Day (Mark 8:11-13)

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,

seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.

He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,

“Why does this generation seek a sign?

Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

Then he left them, got into the boat again,

and went off to the other shore.