Articles

 
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. So promises 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.
 

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.


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 that our weakness can be constructive.
We realize that sin is not dead in us,
yet that 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.