20191206
SPIRITUAL
DARKNESS
06 December,
2019, Friday, 1st Week Of Advent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 29:17-24 ©
|
In a very short time, the deaf will hear and the eyes of the blind
will see
The Lord says
this:
In a
short time, a very short time,
shall
not Lebanon become fertile land
and
fertile land turn into forest?
The
deaf, that day,
will
hear the words of a book
and,
after shadow and darkness,
the
eyes of the blind will see.
But
the lowly will rejoice in the Lord even more
and
the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel;
for
tyrants shall be no more, and scoffers vanish,
and
all be destroyed who are disposed to do evil:
those
who gossip to incriminate others,
those
who try at the gate to trip the arbitrator
and
get the upright man’s case dismissed for groundless reasons.
Therefore
the Lord speaks,
the
God of the House of Jacob,
Abraham’s
redeemer:
No
longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no
more shall his face grow pale,
for
he shall see what my hands have done in his midst,
he
shall hold my name holy.
They
will hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
stand
in awe of the God of Israel.
Erring
spirits will learn wisdom
and
murmurers accept instruction.
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Responsorial
Psalm
|
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Psalm 26(27):1,4,13-14 ©
|
The
Lord is my light and my help.
The
Lord is my light and my help;
whom
shall I fear?
The
Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before
whom shall I shrink?
The
Lord is my light and my help.
There
is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for
this I long,
to
live in the house of the Lord,
all
the days of my life,
to
savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to
behold his temple.
The
Lord is my light and my help.
I am
sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in
the land of the living.
Hope
in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope
in the Lord!
The
Lord is my light and my help.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
cf.Is45:8
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Send
victory like a dew, you heavens,
and
let the clouds rain it down.
Let
the earth open and bring forth the saviour.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Behold,
our Lord will come with power
and
will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Matthew 9:27-31 ©
|
'Take care that no-one learns about this'
As Jesus went on
his way two blind men followed him shouting, ‘Take pity on us, Son of David.’
And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to
them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Sir, we do.’ Then he touched
their eyes saying, ‘Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you.’ And
their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one
learns about this.’ But when they had gone, they talked about him all over the
countryside.
SPIRITUAL
DARKNESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 29:17-24; PS 27:1, 4, 13-14; MT 9:27-31]
We are all afraid of the dark. Not only children but even adults
are afraid of darkness because we cannot see. Dangers lurk in darkness
because often our enemies attack us when we are not able to see and defend
ourselves. Darkness is always associated with evil. All evil is
done in the dark because we are afraid of being shamed when our wrongs are
exposed, especially by self-appointed Vigilante Corp Members in the Social
Media. That is why we all desire to live in the light. Losing
our eyesight is certainly a frightening possibility, especially for those
suffering from glaucoma. Without eyesight, we feel crippled and cut off
from the world.
Whilst this is true of physical blindness,
many of us hardly think of the dangers of spiritual blindness. Most of us are suffering from spiritual
blindness but we live as if we are not blind. Just as a person with physical
blindness can trip and fall and hurt himself, more so a person with spiritual
blindness. He hurts himself, his family and the rest of society because he
engages in actions that are selfish, self-centered, divisive and destructive of
unity. When we live evil and immoral lives, our actions will destroy our
well-being, physical health, spiritual peace and relationships with others.
The greatest form of spiritual blindness
is relativism because they declare that there is no truth and if there were, it
cannot be found. Things
are changing and circumstances are changing. So there can be no absolute
unchanging truth. The only thing that is absolute and the only truth is
that things are always changing. So we can no longer say something is
right or wrong but that it is a matter of choice and preference. Tastes and
values change over time. Adultery and fornication were once seen to be
wrong. Today, these are acceptable because they claim we are thinking
adults! Gay rights are today extolled over marriage rights.
Relativism undergirds the ideology of absolute freedom of the individual, even
over the rights of the larger community.
However, the ultimate form of spiritual
blindness is when one is unable to see God in his life. This happens quite often when we feel that
God has rejected us. When we meet tragedy in life, we want to
push the blame onto someone else, and if no one is found, we blame God for
allowing such sufferings, injustices or failures to happen in our lives.
We give up on Him because we feel that He is useless and indifferent to our
needs and our pains. Indeed, many people in their suffering cannot see
the hand of God in their lives. As a consequence, they feel that they can
no longer rely on God or anyone. They begin to rely on themselves.
When they are able to succeed, instead of thanking God for giving them the
grace to do well, they assume the credit for themselves, their hard work and
ingenuity. Their temporary success bolsters their self-confidence and
conviction that they do not need God in their lives because they can do all
things by themselves.
That is why Jesus came not just to heal
those of us suffering from physical blindness; He came to heal all of us from
spiritual blindness.
In His inauguration message, the Lord cited from the Prophet Isaiah, “He has
sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, to let the oppressed go free.” (Lk 4:18) Blindness and captivity are
more than just physical blindness and incarceration. What we need to be
set free is from our negativities, pride, self-centeredness and intolerance of
others who we think are weak and who have fallen into sin. Indeed, Jesus
did not heal all the blind people in Israel but He came to heal all of us who
are spiritually blind. After healing the two blind men in the gospel,
“Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one learns about
this.'” This is because Jesus wanted the people not to be focused
on the external and the spectacular but to lead them to conversion.
Indeed, what is most needed today is for
us to go to Jesus to seek the light.
Only Jesus who is the Light of the World can show us the meaning and purpose of
life. This is what the psalmist says, “The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I
shrink?” Jesus as the Word of God enlightens us in the truth. What
is this ultimate truth? It is our calling to be with God at the end of
our life. “There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long, to live
in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to savour the sweetness of
the Lord, to behold his temple. I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living. Hope in him, hold firm and take heart. Hope in the
Lord!'”
But to come to the light, we must first
stop blaming others and recognise our sinfulness. “Jesus said, ‘I came into this
world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see
may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to
him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were
blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see’, your sin
remains.” Indeed, this was the attitude of the two blind men.
They did not excuse themselves or blame God or people for the situation they
were in. They simply followed after Jesus shouting, “Take pity on us, Son
of David.” If we want to be healed of our blindness, we must first admit
that we are blind. The irony of the world is that everyone, like the
Pharisees, claims they are right and they have no sin. They know
everything. No one tells them what to do. If something goes wrong, it is
always the fault of others.
Secondly, we must have faith in
Jesus. Faith is a pre-requisite for having our eyes opened. “And when Jesus reached the house
the blind men came up with him and he said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do
this?’ They said, ‘Sir, we do.’ Then he touched their eyes saying, ‘Your faith
deserves it, so let this be done for you.’ And their sight
returned.” Obviously like them, many of us wanted to be healed of
our sicknesses and blindness. We want to be set free from our anger and
inability to forgive and let go. We want to be freed from our
insecurity. But we cannot unless we surrender our lives to Him and are
willing to hand over our entire self to the Lord. This is what the Lord
expects of us. And that was what the two blind men did. They gave
themselves to the Lord and He healed them.
Thirdly, faith comes from hearing. St Paul wrote, “But how are they to
call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one
of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to
proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is
written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Rom 10:14f) Jesus is the
fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah when the prophet consoled the Israelites
that the Light would come and the deaf would hear. “The Lord says this:
In a short time, a very short time, shall not Lebanon become fertile land and
fertile land turn into forest? The deaf, that day, will hear the words of
a book and, after shadow and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see.”
Seeing comes from hearing with faith. When we hear the Words of Jesus
and respond to His call, we will begin to see again. Then we will see the
wisdom of God at work even in our suffering and pain. We will be able to
accept all that happens to us in life, trusting in God’s wisdom and plan for
us. Indeed, “no longer shall Jacob be ashamed, no more shall his face
grow pale, for he shall see what my hands have done in his midst, he shall hold
my name holy. They will hallow the Holy One of Jacob, stand in awe of the God
of Israel. Erring spirits will learn wisdom and murmurers accept
instruction.”
Finally, we must accompany each other to
find faith in Christ. It
is significant that the two blind men were together in their woes and in their
joy of finding Christ. They supported each other to find the Lord to cure
them. We too are all blind and as the proverb says, “the blind leading
the blind, both will fall into the ditch.” So we must lead each other to
the Lord, not to ourselves. We must be wary of leaders that lead people
to themselves. The truth is that we can never give all that people are
asking of us. But God can! “Hope in the Lord.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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