20201204 HEALED, TRANSFORMED AND EVANGELIZING
04 December, 2020, Friday, 1st Week of Advent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Violet.
First reading | 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.
Responsorial Psalm |
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 |
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.
HEALED, TRANSFORMED AND EVANGELIZING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [IS 29:17-24; PS 27:1,4,13-14; MT 9:27-31 ]
In the first reading from the Isaiah, the prophet prophesied hope and renewal for Israel. “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.” Indeed, Lebanon was known for its forests and the Cedar it produced. Today, it is famous for its oranges, peaches and lemons. Many parts of the forest had been cleared for orchards. But before the transformation could happen, the people had to hear the Word of God first, and remove the blindness from their eyes.
Indeed, Israel had fallen into a state of depravity simply because of moral degeneration among its leaders, both religious and secular.There was widespread corruption, discrimination, social injustices and, most of all, oppression of the poor. Indeed, the hope of the poorest of Israel was that “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.” But spiritually they too were just going through the rituals without interiorization. They continued with their worship but their hearts were far from God. There was no moral conversion. It was just lip service to God but no love for their fellowmen.
The blindness of the Israelites was a spiritual blindness. The political and religious leaders were blind to their sins and the kind of policies they were implementing for the people. They did not do what was truly good but more to serve their interests. Indeed, spiritual blindness is even worse than physical blindness. In physical blindness, a person learns how to be dependent on God and on himself. In losing one faculty, the other four faculties become more pronounced. These four faculties of smell, taste, touch and hearing will compensate for the loss of physical sight. In the gospel Jesus even said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Mt 5:29f) Truly, losing one of our faculties or even two will not cause us more harm than losing our spiritual sight and hearing.
For this reason, our cry during the season of Advent is that of the psalmist’s cry, “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? 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!” We must turn to the Lord for light and for help. Only the Lord can give us back our sight, not simply physical but spiritual sight. But this sight will return only when we begin to hear the Word of God again.
This was what happened to the two blind men in today’s gospel. Ironically, they might have been physically blind, but they could see better than any of those who were walking with Jesus. Although they could not see, their ears were opened and attentive to whoever was passing by. They would have heard about Jesus of Nazareth. “As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, ‘Take pity on us, Son of David.'” It is amazing that it took the two blind men to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. In calling Jesus, the Son of David, they acknowledged that Jesus was the future king of Israel who would set Israel free from all foreign domination and restore the kingdom of Israel to her former glory under King David. The others who could see and were with Jesus were not able to accord Jesus the perception that the blind had of Him. And it all began by hearing.
Spiritual blindness is always caused by indifference to the Word of God. Prophets, one after another, were sent by God to awaken the Israelites from their sleep so that they could see again. Unfortunately, as Isaiah said, “Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.” (Isa 6:10 cf Mt 13:14) This is the greatest danger for those of us who are supposedly good Catholics because we have become like the Israelites, hearing the Word of God so often that we are no longer struck when we hear the Word of God. Familiarity breeds contempt. We just hear the Word of God proclaimed but we are not enlightened in any way. We hear homilies every day even, but our hearts are not moved. But we no longer truly hear the Word of God from the depths of our hearts. We just hear the Word superficially. This is why we hear but do not understand, see and yet not perceive. This was what the Lord said, “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them.” (Mt 13:15)
Secondly, we read that they followed after our Lord. Even though they were shouting, our Lord appeared to ignore them. But they did not give up. They continued to follow Jesus until He reached the house. This is what the Lord expects of us too before He will open our eyes and our ears. He wants us to follow Him right to the house. We must be willing to go up to the House of God and allow the Lord to speak to us directly and personally. This was what we read, “when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him.” Jesus did not speak to them amidst the crowd because the Lord wanted them to encounter Him deeply in a personal way. Unless we have a personal encounter with the Lord, listening to Him speaking to us, there can be no real healing of any sort. Even if we were healed, we will fall back to our old way of life again. This also explains why after healing the two blind men, “Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one learns about this.'” The Lord does not want people to come to Him just to seek physical healing without first being healed spiritually through faith in Him. Before the Lord heals us, He wants us to engage Him personally.
Thirdly, they recognized their need for Jesus. They shouted, “Take pity on us, Son of David.” The blind men recognized their blindness and sought the help of our Lord. The problem with the world today is that there are none who are so blind that they cannot see. The world is blinded by its fears, insecurity and selfish interests. We cannot see the destructive and unfair policies we implement as leaders. So long as we think we are doing the right thing, whether in our personal life or as leaders of community and nation, when we are short-sighted in our decision-making, there can be no real conversion. When there is no desire to change, the Lord cannot work miracles for us.
Fourthly, faith is ultimately the criterion for Jesus to restore us to full sight. “Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Sir, we do.'” Without faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the teacher of truth and love, we cannot find healing. We will not walk in the way of truth or take the Word of God seriously unless we confess our faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Word of the Father. Many Catholics claim that the Bible is the Word of God but not many read it daily and fewer still put into practice what they read. Because of their faith, the Lord “touched their eyes saying, ‘Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you.’ And their sight returned.” Such is the gift of faith and the reward of faith.
Indeed, only those of us who confess in faith in “the God of the House of Jacob, Abraham’s redeemer…shall see what my hands have done in his midst, he shall hold my name holy. They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.” When healed by the Lord, we too will then go about announcing Jesus as the Lord. This was what the blind men did when they were healed. “They talked about him all over the countryside.” When our eyes are opened, we can no longer keep the joy to ourselves but proclaim His greatness and goodness to the whole world.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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