Material demands

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12: 38-42)

Jesus knows what is stirring inside all our hearts. When He sees that the miracles sought do not serve to convert those He encounters, Jesus will not perform them because it would make the pain of these people who have not been converted even by miracles all the more bitter. Miracles have the same effect as parables: they lead listeners by the hand to open their hearts to experience faith. Let us strive to keep in mind when we ask the Lord for something that our faith is more important than any of our material demands.