Word to the Wise
Friday, December 2, 2016 - 1st Week of Advent - Tues
[Isa 11:1-10 and Luke 10:21-24]On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. [Isaiah]
The scripture from Isaiah finds its fulfillment in the scripture from Matthew today. Jesus heals two blind men who beg for his pity. He asks them one question: "Do you believe that I can do this?" When they say "Yes, Lord," he heals them. Can we even imagine such a thing for ourselves? Tremendous things are being done to heal various kinds of optical blindness now. Cataract surgery has become routine. Corneal transplants are common. Electronic stimulation of the retinal nerve that allows for a kind of sight is now available. I hope they find something good for macular degeneration, which I encounter in elderly retreatants, or retinitis pigmentosa, another degenerative eye condition.
Isaiah and Matthew, however, were seeing something different. They were looking for the coming of the day of the Lord. Deafness and blindness were afflictions then as they are now, but their healing would come as part of the Lord's reign of grace. We could add to the list: peace in our families and in our world, good health, enjoyable employment, food, shelter, medical care. We pray for these things which are denied to so many people on our planet. But we can also make them possible through our participation and support of individuals and agencies that strive to provide such fundamental necessities for human dignity, from womb to tomb. Our baptismal commitment urges us to help bring about the kingdom. Advent reminds us of this. If we believe that Jesus can do great things through us, we can bring light to the blind and sound to the deaf! AMEN