Month: December 2020

Both readings today could provoke us to ask ourselves the following questions:

In what ways am I blind?

In what situations am I deaf?

How am I lame?

In what way is my tongue mute?

Isaiah proclaims:

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing (Isaiah 35:5-6).

Then. When?

The Gospel announces that Jesus Christ is the One who gives us sight, who opens our ears, who gives us the strength to stand and walk, who releases our tongue so we can proclaim.

If we reflect on the Gospel story, Jesus did indeed heal the paralyzed man. Not a word is spoken by this person or his friends. In this passage, they are mute. The paralyzed man is lame. As Jesus speaks to the paralyzed man, it is clear that he can hear and that he can see something so mysterious and beyond his expectations that at the word of Jesus, he stands up immediately, picks up his mat as he is instructed, and goes home as he had been ordered. The tongues of all those present, well almost all, were freed as they began to praise God, “We have seen incredible things today.”

One group of people in the room that day, a number of scribes and Pharisees, questioned what Jesus was doing. He did not fit into their perception of a man from God, a rabbi faithful to the Law. They were already blinded, unable to hear words that didn’t match the ideas of the echo-chamber of their personal group. They were lame, unable to leap at the voice of God in their midst, and their tongue was not loosed with awe and praise. They remained mute, blind, and deaf at the end of the passage, while everyone else acclaimed Jesus.

So we truly might ask ourselves the very crucial questions:

In what ways am I blind?

In what situations am I deaf?

How am I lame?

In what way is my tongue mute?

What echo-chambers do I stay in so that I only willingly listen to the ideas that are already in my mind and heart?

Where am I missing the glorious work of God at work all around me so that I remain mute, paralyzed, and blind instead of praising God and obeying his commands?

What causes me to remain endlessly wrapped in this world’s concerns that I cannot hear the voice of God breaking in on a different topic as he did for the paralyzed man: “As for you, your sins are forgiven”? For sure he was hoping to hear the words, You are cured!

Friends, at the end of today, at the end of Advent, we don’t want to be among the ones who remain mute, blind, deaf, lame.

Advent reminds us of the promise that is also ours:

Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water….

A highway will be there,
called the holy way.…

It is for those with a journey to make,
and on it the redeemed will walk.
Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy (Isaiah 35:6-7, 8, 9-10).

Willingly, freely, joyfully, make that journey, walk on the way of the redeemed, that you may be crowned with everlasting joy.

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On this Second Sunday of Advent, the Gospel presents to us the impassioned presence of St. John the Baptist – in the desert alone, dressed in camel’s hair, eating insects and wild honey – proclaiming the coming of the Lord. What John the Baptist lived, we are called to live; his entire life was an expectation and preparation for the coming of the Christ, and our lives are to be oriented toward Christ’s coming as well.

St. John’s certainty that his role was to “prepare the way of the Lord,” to be the messenger crying out to others that there is preparation to be done, marked his whole life. He knew God’s will for him and embraced it humbly and energetically, never becoming confused by his own ideas or desires, but giving himself over completely to his God-given task.

But he also did this with understanding and knowledge, which were certainly guided by the Holy Spirit. John was not some wild zealot living primitively in the desert without any refined comprehension of the whole picture. Indeed, the locus of his ministry was part of the message! Just as at the time of the Exodus the Israelites wandered 40 years in the desert and then crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, so John situated himself in the desert and invited the people to a new Exodus, bringing them through baptism in the same river Jordan into a new freedom. The first time, the Promised Land was Canaan, flowing with milk and honey; this time, the Promised Land would be the Messiah, who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit. The first Exodus freed them from slavery in Egypt; this time, they were called to repentance, to be freed from slavery to sin.

Christ’s life will likewise trace the path of ancient Israel, beginning with time in the desert. And we are called during Advent to stir up the thirst and longing of a desert wanderer in search of the Promised Land, the Kingdom of the Messiah, in the certain knowledge that we cannot be free except for His coming. This “coming” is threefold, and we must be ever open to all three: 1) His coming as an infant in Bethlehem; 2) His coming to each of us, every day; 3) His triumphant coming at the end of time.

Whether you use an Advent wreath, hymns, special prayers (like the St Andrew Christmas Novena), or particular practices to keep focused on the “reason for the season”, try each day to consider how you have opened yourself to each of the “3 comings” of Christ in your home and in your heart. You might spend just one minute at the end of the day considering each of these; by Christmas, your heart will be wide and welcoming for the coming of the Savior!

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We hear the hope of the Advent season in the readings today.  In the Gospel we hear of Christ’s immense compassion for human suffering:  “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.”  Out of compassion for those who were suffering, Christ sends out the twelve to care for the lost sheep of Israel. They drive out unclean spirits, cure every disease and illness, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers. The most vulnerable in society are cared for and healed.

Through His compassion and through the mission on which he sends the Apostles, Christ is fulfilling the words of the first reading from Isaiah. The prophet tells us: “O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, no more will you weep; He will be gracious to you when you cry out, as soon as He hears He will answer you.” Christ sees our loneliness and suffering; He sees that we have been abandoned, that we have felt hopeless, and responds to our cries for help with compassion.

The season of Advent promises many things: the birth of our Savior, hope, peace, joy, the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom. However, we are only able to have faith in those promises by drawing close to the heart of Christ, by sharing in His compassion, and by following His words. This is a season of preparation. Not only are we preparing for the birth of our Savior but also for His second coming. Bearing that in mind, Advent should be a time in which we cling to the words of Christ whole-heartedly, that we go out into the world, as the Apostles did, serving the most vulnerable.

In this time of Advent, as we prepare for the birth of our Savior, let us not forget those who are troubled or abandoned.  May we invite them into our hearts and homes with compassion, care, and joy in imitation of Christ and the Apostles.

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