May our eyes be opened

Welcome to my blog. Peace be with you.

Advent turns our eyes towards the plan God has for the human race. He has a plan and since he is God and before him the universe is no more that a drop of water in a bucket, he is working out his plan in ways we do not grasp. None the less since he is the great and holy God, eventually his universe will be an image of his greatness and his holiness. There will be a great reversal. This is the message of Isaiah today. Jesus in the Gospel inaugurates it.

Friday 4 December 2020

Lord open our eyes to your divine plan

 

Isaiah 29:13-24

The Lord’s judgement announced

And the Lord said:

“Because this people draw near with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote;

therefore, behold, I will again

do marvelous things with this people,

wonderful and marvelous;

and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid.”

Woe to those who hide deep from the Lord their counsel,

whose deeds are in the dark,

and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”

You turn things upside down!

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay;

that the thing made should say of its maker,

“He did not make me”;

or the thing formed say of him who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

Is it not yet a very little while

until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?

In that day the deaf shall hear

the words of a book,

and out of their gloom and darkness

the eyes of the blind shall see.

The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,

and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

For the ruthless shall come to nought and the scoffer cease,

and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,

who by a word make a man out to be an offender,

and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,

and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.

Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,

no more shall his face grow pale.

For when he sees his children,

the work of my hands, in his midst,

they will sanctify my name;

they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,

and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

And those who err in spirit will come to understanding,

and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

 

Prayerful reflection

Advent is a time of expectation, of looking forward. In the early days so Advent the Church through the readings turns our attention to the plan for the human race that God is working out.

The readings remind us that God has a plan and that he will work it out through his Son Jesus.

We do not know how he is doing it. But through Jesus will come the great reversal. The world as it is now full of evil because of the presence of evil people will be purified of all defilement and then God’s creation will be as he intended it to be and as we are long for it to be. This is the message of the first reading written in a metaphorical style about the fulfilment of God’s plan.

 

The responsorial psalm is one by which we can express our confidence in God’s loving care of us. If we can believe in his ever-presence, then we can also experience his peace and tranquillity.

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

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.

 

Prayerful reflection

When the Son of God came among us in the form of a simple human being, he planted the seed of the final Kingdom of God. His miracles are signs that one day God will wipe away all blindness of every kind. Through his Spirit may our eyes be opened so that we can see the end towards which we are walking. May we in every way cooperate with the Spirit in bringing about the Kingdom. As Jesus revealed the Kingdom through his actions may we, today and always, be agents to reveal the hidden kingdom through our words and deeds.