If we look around, we are surrounded by the signs of God's loving presence. But in the gospel today Jesus reminds us that we should not depend on them.
An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign
The language can sound harsh, but isn't really. It is simply a reminder of the nature of real love. Real love does not need constant reaffirmation. Real love cannot be grounded in signs but in trust.
The signs of God's presence around us are great things. It is a wonderful thing when we feel God's presence. But what happens when we don't? There are always going to be times we we neither feel nor see signs of God's presence. If we have allowed ourselves to get caught up in feelings and signs then we are going to be in real trouble.
There are three theological virtues: faith, hope and love. The first is always faith, absolute unconditional trust in God. Even in 21st century secular America our money still says it. "In God we trust."
So if you sit down to pray and you don't feel anything, you don't hear God speaking to you, you don't see any signs of God's presence,count that as a blessing. Because then you get the chance to exercise real faith.
