Once someone asked a Bedouin, who is a desert nomad, "How do you know there is a God?" He answered, "The same way I know an animal has crossed the desert: by its footprints in the sand." In other words, for the Bedouin, the bright stars in the night sky, the tiny flowers in the sand and the palm trees of an oasis are signs of God. This is real wisdom! The problem some Pharisees had was not that Jesus hadn't given them any signs. It was that they had chosen to be blind to His signs. To show them more signs would be like showing a blind person more pictures. Someone has rightly said that if you have faith, no sign is needed and if you don't have faith, no number of signs will be sufficient. Today's Gospel invites me to ask with wisdom, "How open am I to God's footprints in my life?"

On top of that, James asks us to pray for wisdom, not the worldly type of wisdom but divine wisdom. Wisdom is to perceive the signs of God in my life. The Mass is beyond doubt the way to true wisdom and a means to deepening my faith, that translates into good deeds, all my listening to God's Word and in communion with Him. Using my God- given wisdom, "Am I only a hearer of the Word of God, or a doer of the Word, or both?"