In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees try to test Jesus by asking for a sign from heaven. Apparently, they missed the feeding of the masses, casting out demons, and healings that are recounted in the chapters of Mark’s Gospel that precede this exchange. After all of these signs and miracles, it’s no wonder that their demand causes an exasperated Jesus to sigh “deeply in his spirit.” As a teacher, I’m familiar with this sigh. It’s a sigh of frustration, vexation, exhaustion. It’s a “why can’t you just [listen, see, understand, trust, accept, appreciate]?” sigh. Signs of God’s love are all around us. It is up to us to open our eyes and our hearts to recognize and appreciate them.
What keeps you from recognizing or appreciating these signs? Who have you made “sigh deeply” by failing to recognize or appreciate them or all they do? How can you show your recognition of or appreciation for that person and their work?
—Jackie Schulte is the Dean of Faculty Formation and a history teacher at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska.