Signs from Heaven

If you are like me, you enjoy road trips.  I enjoy traveling to my destination and seeing the sights; going to new places.  Have you ever been on a long journey and you finally see a sign with your destination and you get a little excited because the sign tells you that your destination is finally in sight after a long drive?  Perhaps you've been in a store that you are not familiar with and you are looking for something.  And finally you see a sign for the object you have been searching.  And you breathe a sign of relief.  Finally!  You say to yourself.

Signs are important.  Signs point towards something greater than themselves.  In other words, in and of themselves, signs are just that:  signs.  And yet the signs point to something else.  They direct us to go the right direction.  They tell us which way to go:  left; right; or straight ahead.  Signs give information.  "Memphis, 500 miles;"  "Keep Off The Grass;"  "Turn left;"  "School Zone;" etc.  The sign itself is not really important but rather the information that the sign conveys is usually pretty important.  Again, signs point to something.  Signs give information.  Signs direct us.  But again, signs are just that:  signs.  Their importance is based solely on the fact that they give information.  Period.

The problem is that some of us are so excited by seeing the signs that we forget that the sign's purpose is simply to inform.  If I was travelling to, say, Memphis, Tennessee on a road trip and as I am driving I see a sign that says:  "Memphis, 300 Miles."   In that example, would it make much sense if I saw that sign.  . .  stopped driving and pulled over . . .  and just stood there by the sign?  I would be crazy, you'd say to yourself if you saw me doing that.  I'm driving to Memphis, yes, and the sign tells me the direction to go and how far it is but that is about it.  It's a sign.  And yet we seek signs.  We look for signs.  Even the days of old, people still sought signs.  Even the disciples sought a sign from Our Blessed Saviour.  We hear in St. Matthew's Gospel:  "And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?  and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and the end of the world?"  (St. Matthew 24:3)  Things haven't really changed that much after two-thousand years, have they?  We have always looked for signs.  We haven't always sought signs.  This is why we hear Our Lord saying:  "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring: men's hearts failing them for fear,  . . . . " (St. Luke 21:25)  Our Lord knows that we seek signs.  "And others, tempting Him, sought of Him a sign from Heaven." (St. Luke 11:16)  Even St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians acknowledged that people seek signs:  "For the Jews require a sign,  . . . .  " (I Corinthians 1:22)  Our Lord knows human nature better than anyone, it would seem to me.  And yet that doesn't mean He likes that we seek after signs.   "But (Jesus) answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas" (St. Matthew 12:39)

And what exactly was this great sign from  the Prophet Jonah that Our Lord is referring to?  "Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.  And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."  (Jonah 1:17)    Of course, Our Lord is referring to Himself.  He stated that just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so too would be in the "heart of the earth" for three days and three nights. (St. Matthew 12:40)  The signs we see in Holy Scripture:  the miracles . ..  the raising of the dead . . . the healing of the sick . . .  the dramatic signs from Heaven . . . . they are signs, yes, but they are merely signs!  Remember, signs point to something greater than themselves.  And in each and every case, signs point toward Our Blessed Saviour.  Signs point toward Jesus being the King of the Universe!  Signs point toward that small, innocent Baby born at Bethlehem being the long-awaited Messiah of the world.

In essence, signs often point us towards a direction.  They point us towards a goal.  This is what the holy season of Advent does.  Advent points us towards Christmas.  Advent reminds us to remember the true goal of this season:  the Coming of the Christ-Child.  When the secular world all around us tries to convince us that the real reason for the season is to spend the most money on the most expensive gifts, Advent reminds us to search for the Christ-Child.  Advent reminds us to prepare a place for Him . . . . to prepare our hearts for Him.  Advent is a sign pointing us in the right direction:  pointing towards the Messiah.  Advent reminds us to always focus on Jesus.  Advent reminds us to make Jesus the true Center of our life.