December 3, Friday

FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT

 

The Blind Will See

         In this season of hope, Advent, the word of God gives us a vision of hope. The mighty who rely on their own political power and alliances will be crushed, but the poor, the deaf, the blind, that is, those who still believe in God’s presence and action in the world, will see salvation. This is the promise of Isaiah in the name of God.

         When we celebrate the Eucharist, we profess our faith that God, in fact, begins the fulfillment of this promise in Jesus. He restores the eyesight of the blind because they believe. God has committed himself to the world through Jesus Christ.

 

First Reading: Isaiah 29:17-24                                   

And then before you know it,
    and without you having anything to do with it,
Wasted Lebanon will be transformed into lush gardens,
    and Mount Carmel reforested.
At that time the deaf will hear
    word-for-word what’s been written.
After a lifetime in the dark,
    the blind will see.
The castoffs of society will be laughing and dancing in God,
    the down-and-outs shouting praise to The Holy of Israel.
For there’ll be no more gangs on the street.
    Cynical scoffers will be an extinct species.
Those who never missed a chance to hurt or demean
    will never be heard of again:
Gone the people who corrupted the courts,
    gone the people who cheated the poor,
    gone the people who victimized the innocent.

And finally this, God’s Message for the family of Jacob,
    the same God who redeemed Abraham:
“No longer will Jacob hang his head in shame,
    no longer grow gaunt and pale with waiting.
For he’s going to see his children,
    my personal gift to him—lots of children.
And these children will honor me
    by living holy lives.
In holy worship they’ll honor the Holy One of Jacob
    and stand in holy awe of the God of Israel.
Those who got off-track will get back on-track,
    and complainers and whiners learn gratitude.”

 

Gospel: Matthew 9:27-31

As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, “Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!” When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why, yes, Master!”

He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.” It happened. They saw. Then Jesus became very stern. “Don’t let a soul know how this happened.” But they were hardly out the door before they started blabbing it to everyone they met.

Right after that, as the blind men were leaving, a man who had been struck speechless by an evil spirit was brought to Jesus. As soon as Jesus threw the evil tormenting spirit out, the man talked away just as if he’d been talking all his life. The people were up on their feet applauding: “There’s never been anything like this in Israel!”

 

Prayer

Lord, our God,
you are our light and our help;
notwithstanding our limitations
and all our ambiguities,
we place all our hope in you.
We know that we are weak,
yet our weaknesses can be constructive.
We realize that sin is not dead in us,
but still we sinners can serve you.
We are mortal, yet we can live with death
as a dimension of life,
but not as a final obstacle.
God, help us to live with these realities
in faith and hope,
in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Believing in a wrong God? 

Today the Church celebrates the witness of life and missionary example of Saint Francis Xavier.  Co-founder of the Society Jesus,  his apostolate span across southern India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, parts of Indonesia and Japan. He died in Shangchuan Island, in China at the age of 46. St. Francis Xavier is a patron of all the missions of the Catholic Church.

The Gospel today speaks two blind men following Jesus. Reflecting on the scene of these two following the Lord, a simple thought attracts our imagination! How could the blind men catch up with Jesus unless Jesus slowed down for their sake? In all likelihood, Jesus heard their shouting, knew their plight, welcomed their desire, and wanted them to catch up with him. And when they did, he tested their faith and trust in him. In response to their proclamation of faith, Jesus healed them.

These men were overwhelmed with their cure, and their emotion overtook them. Jesus instructed them to “See that no one knows about this” miraculous healing.  But their excitement could not be contained. They did not know how else to express their joy other than by telling others that now they could see and this man named Jesus healed them.

A possible reason why Jesus told them not to tell others about Him could be because He knew they did not fully understand who He was. He knew that their testimony about Him would fail to present His true identity. They would present Jesus as the miracle worker,  “Son of David” – the Saviour! But what they did not know is that this Saviour saves through His sufferings, humiliation, torture and death.

Oftentimes we can also fall into the trap of misunderstanding Who Jesus is. Indeed, we believe that Jesus is the saviour. But the danger is that we want a “god” who acts according to our will and desires. We want a “god” who will heal us and free us of every earthly burden. But the God of Jesus is a different God. He taught us that we must take up our own crosses and follow Him; that sufferings, pain and death are very much part of our life in faith.

A false understanding of God would frustrate people when they are faced with struggles of life. Many people question God and give up faith in God  when confronted with agonies in life. It is because of their wrong notion of God. Our faith in God shall not be because He performs miracles but because He has assured us Heaven!

 

Video available on Youtube: Believing in a wrong God?