First Reading - James 1:1-11
Gospel - Mark 8:11-13
In the first reading, James underlines the virtue of wisdom (It's a special gift from God that strengthens faith - it's the word planted in each one of us.) as a prerequisite for staunch faith. James stresses that wisdom is required because the faithful don't always know how to persevere nor do they easily find the will to rejoice in future blessings while enduring present trials. James further adds that a divine vision or perspective is needed to aid the believers and to fortify the self against temptation.
In the gospel, today we hear about the demand of the Pharisees from Jesus for a sign. What the Pharisees wanted was not another healing or exorcism or feeding or subjugation of nature but a "sign from heaven," that is an apocalyptic manifestation that would prove beyond all doubt that Jesus had God's approval. In other words, the Pharisees wanted God to vindicate Jesus before they would accept him. Jesus' refusal to provide a sign is quite in keeping with his initial call to "believe the good news" (1:15). What Jesus showed by this is that commitment (faith in) to him must be a voluntary act of a person rather than faith rising from an irrefutable sign which would be a compulsion.
Dear friends, our faith in Jesus is to be a voluntary act rather than arising from any compulsion or fear. Our faith should emanate from our love for Jesus. We at times encounter doubts and queries about our faith in God and persist in that. The doubts and queries are reasonable but they should not become a reason to demand a sign to believe in God rather having an attitude of placing ourselves at the feet of God for wisdom or divine light to enlighten ourselves will certainly do us good.
The Pharisees had irresistible doubts but that was not to believe in him but to find fault with Jesus. There are many who come across doubts in their faith due to some tragic incidents of their lives, too much one-sided scientific exploration or social conditions. Our doubts are irrevocable in such situations but our perspectives towards that shouldn't be one-sided; only to find fault rather to be enlightened. James invites us that we need divine vision or perspective to grow in our faith; we need wisdom from God to be strong in our belief in God. Let's strive for this wisdom to always remain firm in faith.
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