On two different occasions in different places, I have seen "human interest" stories on the local news about someone being given a special pair of glasses that would enable the wearer who was colorblind to actually see colors! One was a boy and the other an older man. Both recipients reacted by breaking down in tears of joy!! I think of these two people when I read the words from Isaiah and Matthew in today's scripture readings for Mass.
The Gospel According to Matthew was composed for a primarily Jewish-Christian community and consistently portrays Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy about a messianic "day of the Lord." Yesterday, a messianic banquet in Isaiah was paired with a miraculous multiplication of loaves and fishes. Today, a messianic prophecy about the healing of the deaf and blind is paired with Jesus' healing of two blind men.
That is the "big picture," but I cannot let go of the joy that those new glasses brought to the colorblind boy and man. The faith of the two blind men moved Jesus to heal them. Can we do something in this season to bring a kind of messianic joy to someone? Can hope be brought to someone who is living without hope? Yes, this can be done by a wrapped gift or a donation of some kind, but it can also be done by "reaching out" and offering comfort accompanied by action in word and deed. Giving hope can mean giving joy. Giving color to those colorblind persons brought "joy to their world!" Can we find a way to do the same? AMEN