Signs of Love

Seeing God’s love reflected in our parents’ love

07/20/2020

Matthew 12:38-42 Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”

Sometimes it seems we will never fully know how much our parents love us. Maybe it will not be until our parents pass away that we finally feel the full depth of their love for us. Last evening I visited the family of Charlie Logan to prepare for his funeral on Wednesday. I was moved by this daughter, Mary’s, description of what a loving, giving and inspiring man her father was. He taught her a love for the outdoors, and that’s why she lives in Denver, Colorado today, and loves to hike and fish and explore the wonders of nature. Today, she can see the signs of his love for her by reflecting on her own life. In other words, the clearest signs of a father or mother’s love can be seen in who we (their children) are.

If we look closely at our own lives we will see hints of the midnight feedings, the countless PTO meetings, the sleepless nights worrying, the driving to soccer games, the bandaging of broken bones and broken hearts, and so much more. All those signs of love by parents are taken for granted by children, that is, until we have children of our own. When we try to love our own children we begin to glimpse how much our parents loved us. Sometimes the best way to appreciate a father or mother’s love is by looking in the mirror: children are the surest sign of parent’s love.

In the gospel today, Jesus grows exceedingly exasperated with the Pharisees’ demand for a sign. They insist that Jesus show them a sign that he acts with the authority of God, because that is exactly what Jesus claimed. Jesus’ response is to tell them you have missed all the signs of how much God the Father loved you in the Old Testament, and so you miss how much I love you. Just like we often overlook how much our parents love us until they die, so the Jewish leaders would miss how much God loves them until the Son of God (Jesus ) would die for them on the Cross. Even then many of them missed it.

When Jesus reminds them of Jonah and Solomon, he’s trying to tell them: remember the midnight feedings and driving to soccer practice and bandaging broken bones and broken hearts that God did for you in the Old Testament? Those are the signs of the Father’s love for you, and I am continuing his work. So we read in John 5:17 (one of my favorite verses), where Jesus says: “My Father is at work until now, and I am at work.” In other words, all you have and are as the Chosen People are the clearest signs of God’s love for you. If you want to see a sign of God’s love (and my authority) look in the mirror, especially the rear view mirror. Children are always the best signs of their parents’ love.

My friends, have you ever asked for a sign from God? Perhaps you prayed for some miracle, or a blessing, or a healing so God could prove, once and for all, that he exists and that he loves you. Who has not cried out in moments of honest and brutal spiritual desperation: “Just show me one sign and I will believe!”? But God’s love for us is a lot like our father and our mother’s love for us; we need look no further than our own nose.

Just ask yourself these questions: Did you get out of bed this morning? Did you eat your breakfast? Did you read the newspaper? Did you try to love your spouse and children? Did you say your prayers? Did you try to make this world a little better place to live? Did you love the poor? Did you listen to music? Did you dance or cry or sing today? Do you love the outdoors and hiking and fishing and exploring? You would not have been able to do even one of those things without God the Father’s love to sustain you every second and surround you like a warm blanket on a cold night.

Etienne Gilson put it perfectly and said it succinctly when he wrote: because we are made in the image of God “the last word of self-knowledge is the first word on God” (The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy, 221). In other words, if you want to see a sign of God’s love, look in the mirror.

Praised be Jesus Christ!