What sign can you do?

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John 6:30-35 If I wasn't in the same boat as these sinners following Jesus I would probably be laughing right in their face. I often wonder how Jesus kept from rolling on the grass laughing at what some people do. Today we hear the crowd ask Him, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?..." Is this not the same crowd who in verse 2 we are told - "followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick ."? Are these not the same people who in verse 14 " when they saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."? Yet still they seek a sign. However, they are not seeking a sign so that they might believe, they are wanting to be fed. Jesus worked a "sign" with the loaves and the fishes and now they want Him to do it again. Wisely, Jesus is using their bellies to get to their hearts; He is using earthly things to move them,
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Co-Workers in the Vineyard

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Matthew 20:1-16

Entitlement mentality is what I think we could call it. It is this idea that if we have been doing good all along we should be entitled to more of a reward than the person who just recently began living a good and holy life. I believe it is a major consequence of original sin and very much tied to pride. No one is exempt from this pattern of behavior.

My wife and I have a difficult time persuading our four-year-old to eat supper every night. It is simply one meal he doesn't care to eat. We use every tactic we can think of from punishments to rewards. Our oldest child sees all of this and calculates his move with precision. If his younger sibling takes too long to eat his meal he feels as though he is entitled to more dessert since he obeyed right away. Like the parable in the Gospel the reward, dessert, is the same for all my sons and neither should be jealous of the other but rather rejoice in the "payment".

This human "flaw" is seen throughout Scripture. For instance, Jonah is upset with God when the people of Nineveh repent. He fails to see the generosity of God in the conversion of Nineveh as well as the gourd plant that provides him shade. He doesn't understand that God acts as He wills and all His ways are just. It is man who is unjust and therefore sees justice only in relationship to himself and not all.

Again, this jealousy of God's generosity if fleshed out in the story of the Prodigal Son. The older brother, who stayed with his father, is furious because the father lavishes gifts upon the younger son when he returns. God's gift to all is the same, eternal life. What more can I ask for? What right do I have to demand more of God simply because I have followed Him closely while others have not? Should I not instead say, "We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty."(Luke 17:10)

Lord Jesus, help me to rejoice in the gift of salvation given to all through Your suffering, death, and Resurrection. Keep me from being jealous of Your generosity to others. Teach me to be a humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord!

FROM THE SAINTS
"Choose mortifications that don't mortify others." - Saint Josemaria Escriva, The Way # 179


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