1st Week of Advent, Friday, Dec 2
Isaiah 29:17-24 / Matthew 9:27-31
Bob Evans had been blind since birth. When he was 50 years old, an operation gave him eyesight for the first time in his life. Suddenly his world changed beyond belief. He said in a Chicago Sun-Times interview: “'It's the most amazing thing in the world. ... I can't wait to get up each day to see what I can see. ... “And at night I look at the stars. Everything is a constant high. You could never know how wonderful everything is.”
This story gives us an insight into Isaiah's prophecy in today's reading, about how life will be changed for people when the Messiah comes.
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Do we see the next life as a life beyond anything we ever dreamed of? “What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
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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.
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Great things can be accomplished when there are two factors involved: conviction and commitment. In other words, when we believe in something and we put our energy and even our lives on it, then great things can be accomplished. On the other hand, we can have all the resources and all the tried-and-tested methods, but if we lack the conviction and the commitment, then all the guarantees that something will work will not happen, or that the result will only be mediocre.
In the 1st reading, when the prophet Isaiah wrote those words that began with "The Lord says this: ... ", in effect he was writing an oracle from the Lord God, which is a divine edict. What was his conviction that what he was writing was from the Lord God? Could it be that God appeared to him in a vision and told him to write those words down?
Or could it be that in his reflection and meditation and prayer, he came to a conviction that this is what the Lord God wants him to write down and he committed himself to it? And what he wrote is a prophecy, and as it is with prophecies, it may happen soon or it may happen in another age.
Nonetheless, the prophet Isaiah wrote it down, and he could only put his trust in the Lord that the Word of the Lord will be fulfilled in time to come. Such was the conviction and the commitment of the prophet Isaiah to the Lord and what the Lord had called him to do.
In the gospel, the two blind men followed Jesus along the way and were shouting, "Take pity on us, Son of David." They even had to follow Jesus all the way to the house, considering the fact that they were blind and hence it was not that easy for them to move along. But they did. And when Jesus asked them, "Do you believe I can do this?" their answer showed their conviction about who Jesus is - "Sir, we do." The reply of Jesus is most comforting and consoling as He says this to them, "Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you."
As we come before Jesus in this First Friday Mass and Devotion to the Sacred Heart, and as we offer up our needs and petitions, Jesus is looking at the conviction of our faith in Him. Like the two blind men, we must call out to Jesus to take pity on us as we offer up our needs and petitions and believe that He will answer our prayers. Let us put our faith conviction in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and let us also renew our commitment to Him in the mission of the salvation of souls.
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When we celebrate the Eucharist, we profess our faith that God, in fact, begins the fulfilment 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.
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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
