Reflection by Sem. Niel Reforma
Why is it that sometimes, even when we are already given enough, we still ask for more?
A sign, by its very nature, is meant to point us toward something beyond itself. A road sign points us toward a destination. A light in the darkness tells us that there is something ahead. But a sign is only meaningful if we are willing to recognize what it is pointing toward.
Imagine, for example, a person who is lost on the road. He does not know where to go, so he asks someone for directions, and the person points toward a sign just a few meters ahead. But instead of looking at the sign, he keeps asking, “Are you sure?” And perhaps, in some ways, this is what we do with God.
Sometimes, we even make an agreement with God. We ask Him for signs. “Lord, if this is your will, show me a sign.” “Lord, kung tunay ining pangapudan mo sakuya, tawi ako ki sign.” We want certainty before we trust. We want to see it very clearly before we believe it. We want God to make everything so obvious that there is no room for doubt.
And perhaps this is what makes faith difficult. God rarely gives us the entire picture at once. Most of the time, He gives us only enough light for the next step. We become impatient because we want to see the whole road. We want to know where everything will lead. We want to know whether our prayers will be answered.
But perhaps God does not ask us to understand everything before we follow Him. Perhaps He only asks us to trust Him enough to take the next step. Perhaps the silence is not God’s absence. Perhaps the waiting is not God’s refusal. Perhaps the uncertainty is not proof that we are lost. Perhaps God is teaching us that faith is not the ability to see everything, but the courage to follow even when we can only see the next step.
Because sometimes, the greatest sign is not that God shows us what will happen tomorrow. The greatest sign is that He gives us enough grace to remain faithful today.
But there is something about the Gospel today. The scribes and Pharisees approach Jesus and say, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” They are asking for a sign from the very One who is Himself the sign. It is not that God has failed to give them a sign. It is that they have failed to recognize the sign that is already before them.
The sign is Christ Himself.
And this is where the Gospel speaks to us. Because perhaps the problem is not always that God has failed to give us a sign. Perhaps sometimes, the problem is that we have failed to recognize the sign that is already before us.
Maybe the answer to our prayer has already come, but it did not come in the form we expected. Maybe we are waiting for a voice from heaven, while God is speaking through the people He has placed around us. Maybe we are waiting for God to show us the entire road ahead, while He is only asking us to take the next step.
And so the Gospel today invites us to ask ourselves: What kind of sign are we actually looking for? Because sometimes, we do not really want God’s will. We want God’s approval of our will.
But the sign of Jonah reminds us that God’s greatest work often happens in places we do not expect—in darkness, in waiting, and in moments when we cannot yet see what comes next. Perhaps this is the sign that we need to remember: Christ Himself.
Perhaps God does not always give us certainty about the whole journey. Sometimes, He simply gives us enough grace to remain faithful today.
And so the Gospel today invites us once again to ask ourselves: What kind of sign are we actually looking for? Because sometimes, we do not really want God’s will. We want God’s approval of our will. Sometimes, God has already answered our prayer, but because the answer is not what we expected, we continue asking for another sign.
So perhaps, instead of continually asking, “Lord, give me another sign,” we can begin to pray, “Lord, help me recognize the sign You have already given.”
May we learn, then, not to spend our lives asking God for another sign, but to recognize and trust the Sign He has already given us. Because the greatest sign has already been given. The greatest sign is Christ Himself.
Amen.
We keep asking for another sign, when perhaps God is already asking us to recognize the one He has given.
By Jan Ernest Pàting
A second-year AB Philosophy student and aspirant of the Society of Saint Paul. He is currently discerning his vocation to the religious life inspired by the footsteps of the great apostle Paul.