Understand and see things clearly

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today,  offer contemplation of role reversal and seeing our relationship with God and others through eyes like St Ambrose who acted to influence significant change in the lives of his contemporaries.

Action today

The Prophet Isaiah declares an end to pride, ignorance, and injustice in the restoration of Israel by God.

* [29:17–24] The prophet presents the positive aspects of God’s plan in terms of a series of reversals: an end to pride, ignorance, and injustice. Cf. 32:3–5.

In the Gospel from Matthew, two blind men receive new sight and insight into the Son of David.

* [9:27–31] This story was probably composed by Matthew out of Mark’s story of the healing of a blind man named Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46–52). Mark places the event late in Jesus’ ministry, just before his entrance into Jerusalem, and Matthew has followed his Marcan source at that point in his gospel also (see Mt 20:29–34). In each of the Matthean stories the single blind man of Mark becomes two. The reason why Matthew would have given a double version of the Marcan story and placed the earlier one here may be that he wished to add a story of Jesus’ curing the blind at this point in order to prepare for Jesus’ answer to the emissaries of the Baptist (Mt 11:4–6) in which Jesus, recounting his works, begins with his giving sight to the blind.

Mariana Miller invites us to ponder the Gospel in light of everything that might be worrying or overwhelming us and ask for a stronger faith.

I often feel very drained, beaten and in despair by all the awful things going on in the world, in our society: wars for political and economic gain, climate catastrophes, forced migration due to war, land mismanaging, famine, and lack of opportunity; the way immigrants are treated in our country, racism, intolerance, gun violence, …, but yet, when I read these passages I felt filled with hope.

Don Schwager quotes “They saw because they believed in the Messiah,”  by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD).

"At that point, two blind men follow the Lord as he was passing by. But if they could not see, how could the blind men know of the Lord's departure as well as his name? Moreover, they called him 'Son of David' and asked to be made well. In the two blind men, the entire earlier prefiguration [miracles in Matthew 9:18-26] is complete. The ruler's daughter seems to be from these people, namely, the Pharisees and John’s disciples, who already made common cause in testing the Lord. To these unknowing persons the law gave evidence as to the one from whom they sought a cure. It indicated to them that their Savior in the flesh was of the line of David. It also introduced light to the minds of those who were blind from past sins. They could not see Christ but were told about him. The Lord showed them that faith should not be expected as a result of health but health should be expected because of faith. The blind men saw because they believed; they did not believe because they saw. From this we understand that what is requested must be predicated on faith and that faith must not be exercised because of what has been obtained. If they should believe, he offers them sight. And he charges the believers to be silent, for it was exclusively the task of the apostles to preach." (excerpt from commentary ON MATTHEW 9.9)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 9:27-31 comments that “Seeing” is central to all of today’s Scripture readings. The psalmist expresses confidence that he will live long enough to see God’s bounty (27:13). Isaiah predicts that “the eyes of the blind shall see” (29:18). And Jesus fulfills this prophecy by restoring sight to two blind men in today’s Gospel. Maybe we should make this theme of “seeing” one of our Advent prayers: Open our eyes, Lord. Help us to see!

As for opening your eyes to how you can act, maybe God helped you glimpse a solution to a dilemma you were facing, like how to deal with a difficult employee. Or maybe you didn’t know how to approach a problem with your son, but you suddenly felt inspired with a deeper courage and trust in God’s care for both of you. Maybe you have experienced a new sense of compassion for someone who has hurt you, and you have finally found the ability to forgive.

A post by Franciscan Media on the Memorial of Saint Ambrose has the saint emerge as a man of action who cut a furrow through the lives of his contemporaries.

His sermons, his writings, and his personal life reveal him as an otherworldly man involved in the great issues of his day. Humanity for Ambrose was, above all, spirit. In order to think rightly of God and the human soul, the closest thing to God, no material reality at all was to be dwelt upon. He was an enthusiastic champion of consecrated virginity...
The influence of Ambrose on Augustine will always be open for discussion. The Confessions reveal some manly, brusque encounters between Ambrose and Augustine, but there can be no doubt of Augustine’s profound esteem for the learned bishop.
Neither is there any doubt that Saint Monica loved Ambrose as an angel of God who uprooted her son from his former ways and led him to his convictions about Christ...Ambrose exemplifies for us the truly catholic character of Christianity. He is a man steeped in the learning, law, and culture of the ancients and of his contemporaries. Yet, in the midst of active involvement in this world, this thought runs through Ambrose’s life and preaching: The hidden meaning of the Scriptures calls our spirit to rise to another world.

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the description of restoration of Israel by Isaiah. The Spirit inspired Gospel of transformation from blindness to sight are common to Matthew and Mark. Friar Jude notes Jesus reluctance to be known as a miracle worker.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, teaches as Paul saw Christ as a single “New Human” (see Ephesians 2:15), as Duns Scotus saw Christ as the Alpha point of history, so Pierre Teilhard de Chardin saw the same Divine Icon as the Omega point of cosmic history—both the archetypal starting point and the alluring final goal.

Collectively, we’re moving toward the Omega point; but every time you and I hate, fear, compete, attack, judge, separate—thus avoiding the necessary letting go—we are resisting the full flow of Love, the energy which is driving the universe forward. The “Three Persons” of the Trinity—the template for all of reality (see Genesis 1:26-27)—can only pour themselves out because they have agreed to let go, and they can only receive because they have made space for the other. Self-emptying and infilling in equal measure is the only sustainable meaning of Love, growth, and Life Itself

The theme of restoration in the texts today is also resonate in the history of St Ambrose and St Augustine who offer models that encourage our exploration of the Trinity and the flow of Love in the universe.

References

1	(n.d.). Isaiah chapter 29 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/29
2	(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 9 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/9
3	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
4	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
5	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
6	(n.d.). Saint Ambrose – Franciscan Media. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-ambrose/
7	(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/