Signs and wonder

From the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday, 4th March 2018

In today’s Gospel, the Jews ask Jesus, “What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?” What he had done was organise a riot to protest their turning the Temple into a cattle market or a Super market. And so many times we see the Pharisees demanding that Jesus perform some extraordinary signs and wonders to prove he is the long – awaited Messiah. We remember, too, that this was one of Jesus’s own temptations – to jump from the parapet of the temple and have angels come swooping from on high to save him from injuries. But he, of course, rejects this temptation and these demands and says he himself is the only sign they will be given, just as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites.

I’m sure Jesus would love that photo of the child with the big blue eyes in a recent Bulletin and the message: There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child; there are seven million! And also, the poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “Earth’s crammed with heaven/And every common bush afire with God/ But only he who sees, takes off his shoes/ The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

It’s all about seeing and appreciating. Jesus would say, “Look at the wonders all round you. Look at the sun and the moon and the stars. Look at the birds of the air. Look at nature in all its splendour and magnificence. Look at the films by David Attenborough or, nearer home, look at the cormorants on the Dodder and the kingfishers in Bushy Park! (Above is photo of a cormorant on the Dodder)

Look too at the great spirit in people. I asked prayers at mass recently for a young couple expecting a baby in May. In a recent scan, it was discovered their baby has the condition known as spina bifida, and they were told all that would mean including that their child might never walk, would have serious bowel problems and much more. Needless to say, they were devastated and plunged into grief as for a lost child. But with support from family and friends and their own strong faith, they pulled themselves together and sought all the advice they could get. And last week, they travelled to Belgium where the child in the womb was operated on to release fluid from the brain and hopefully improve the child’s future prospects. I don’t know if I am describing all this correctly but isn’t it marvellous what surgeons can now do?  And isn’t it marvellous to see this young couple doing all they possibly can to give their frail child the best possible quality of life. They have a little boy already who is perfectly healthy, so they never anticipated anything like this.

Please keep this baby and all children with disabilities and their parents in your prayers.