{"id":10429,"date":"2015-12-04T08:05:22","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T13:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/?p=10429"},"modified":"2015-12-04T20:38:30","modified_gmt":"2015-12-05T01:38:30","slug":"christs-healing-of-our-blindness-with-mercy-first-friday-of-advent-december-4-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/christs-healing-of-our-blindness-with-mercy-first-friday-of-advent-december-4-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Christ&#8217;s Healing of our Blindness with Mercy, First Friday of Advent, December 4, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fr. Roger J. Landry<br \/>\nSacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan<br \/>\nFriday of the First Week of Advent<br \/>\nMemorial of St. John Damascene<br \/>\nDecember 4, 2015<br \/>\nIs 29:17-24, Ps 27, Mt 9:27-31<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>To listen to an audio recording of today&#8217;s homily, please click below:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-10429-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12.4.15-Homily-1.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12.4.15-Homily-1.mp3\">https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12.4.15-Homily-1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>The following points were attempted in the homily:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We encounter again today the double-dynamism of Lent: Christ&#8217;s coming and the way we&#8217;re called to go out to meet him. Today Christ was coming past two blind men, who first went out to meet him intentionally, crying out, &#8220;Son of David, have mercy on us!&#8221; Just like Jesus did a couple of days ago in climbing up the mountain and making everyone else exert themselves to come to him for miracles, so today Jesus doesn&#8217;t come to the blind men immediately to work the miracle, but goes into the city to make them make the effort to follow him. When they do, that&#8217;s when Jesus approaches and asks them the question of faith, &#8220;Do you believe that I can do this for you?&#8221; When they express their faith, Jesus helps them to see.<\/li>\n<li>This physical story points to a very important spiritual lesson both for Advent as well as for the Year of Mercy that will begin in four\u00a0days. Jesus with his mercy comes to us in history, mystery and majesty but we have to recognize our need for it and be willing to make the effort to come to receive it. Like St. John the Baptist will announce this Sunday, we need to make straight the paths. Jesus&#8217; messianic work can be summarized by healing our blindness. In the first reading, Isaiah tells us, &#8220;On that day \u2026\u00a0out of gloom and darkness,\u00a0the eyes of the blind shall see,&#8221; and we need to see ourselves among the blind whom the Savior comes to heal. Yesterday at the United Nations, I attended a day long event for the International\u00a0Day of Persons with Disabilities, and during the opening panel, Luis Gallegos, the former Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the UN, discussed how when we think about the disabled, we ought to be thinking about each of us. He said if we live long enough, we&#8217;re going to start to have eye problems, need hearing aids, end up using canes and handicapped ramps and wheelchairs, and made likewise be dependent on so many things that today we take for granted. He says we need to remember that all of us will one day be handicapped. What is true at a physical level is certainly true spiritually. We&#8217;re all to some degree spiritually blind, incapable of seeing God where we ought. We&#8217;re deaf to his frequency with regard to many of the things he&#8217;s trying to say to us. Even though we can walk, fear cripples us from walking in certain directions. Jesus wants to address all of those at his coming, but we need to learn from the blind men how to cry out for mercy.<\/li>\n<li>The Lord to whom we make that appeal is, we say today in the Responsorial Psalm, our &#8220;light and salvation.&#8221; He&#8217;s the one who saves our lives and illumines everything. In the Psalm we talk about four consequences of the restoration of sight he gives us.\n<ul>\n<li>The first is courage: &#8220;Whom should I fear? \u2026 Of whom should I be afraid?&#8221; Because the Lord is illumining our path and nothing in all of creation can separate us from his love, we have every reason not to remain in the darkness of fear.<\/li>\n<li>The second is to see God&#8217;s sacredness all around us: &#8220;One thing I ask of the LORD;\u00a0this I seek:\u00a0To dwell in the house of the LORD\u00a0all the days of my life,\u00a0That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD\u00a0and contemplate his temple.&#8221; When the Psalm was being written, the Temple was considered the Temple in Jerusalem built by Solomon. But we know that when Jesus came, he opened our eyes to see that he is the true Temple and that we become part of that temple through baptism. To dwell in the house of the Lord all our days means to dwell in him. To contemplate his temple means to see that the whole world is charged with his grandeur. That&#8217;s what he wants us to see!<\/li>\n<li>The third result is to behold God&#8217;s generosity. &#8220;I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD\u00a0in the land of the living.&#8221; The Lord gives abundantly and when we see with his light we begin to grasp just how generous he is, that he is constantly giving every meal we meet, every day we have, every friend we make, every prayer answered.<\/li>\n<li>The last result is faith and hope: &#8220;Wait for the LORD with courage;\u00a0be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.&#8221; Because the Lord is our Light and Salvation, we are able audaciously to wait for him with strong hearts. That&#8217;s what Advent is about. Waiting for him to do for us something even greater than what he did for the men in today&#8217;s Gospel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the Opening Prayer of Today&#8217;s Mass for the Feast of St. John of Damascus, the great 7th century doctor of the Church, we asked the Lord to grant us through the prayers of St. John &#8220;that the true faith, which he excelled in teaching, may always be our light and our strength.&#8221; The Lord is coming to us as our light and salvation and the way we&#8217;re called to go out to meet him is with a faith that likewise receives and reflects his light and is strengthened\u00a0in response to Jesus&#8217; salvation. And the place we come to meet him is right here at the altar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>The readings for today&#8217;s Mass were:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"bibleReadingsWrapper\">\n<h4>Reading 1\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/isaiah\/29:17\">IS 29:17-24<\/a><\/h4>\n<div class=\"poetry\">Thus says the Lord GOD:<br \/>\nBut a very little while,<br \/>\nand Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,<br \/>\nand the orchard be regarded as a forest!<br \/>\nOn that day the deaf shall hear<br \/>\nthe words of a book;<br \/>\nAnd out of gloom and darkness,<br \/>\nthe eyes of the blind shall see.<br \/>\nThe lowly will ever find joy in the LORD,<br \/>\nand the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.<br \/>\nFor the tyrant will be no more<br \/>\nand the arrogant will have gone;<br \/>\nAll who are alert to do evil will be cut off,<br \/>\nthose whose mere word condemns a man,<br \/>\nWho ensnare his defender at the gate,<br \/>\nand leave the just man with an empty claim.<br \/>\nTherefore thus says the LORD,<br \/>\nthe God of the house of Jacob,<br \/>\nwho redeemed Abraham:<br \/>\nNow Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of,<br \/>\nnor shall his face grow pale.<br \/>\nWhen his children see<br \/>\nthe work of my hands in his midst,<br \/>\nThey shall keep my name holy;<br \/>\nthey shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob,<br \/>\nand be in awe of the God of Israel.<br \/>\nThose who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,<br \/>\nand those who find fault shall receive instruction.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bibleReadingsWrapper\">\n<h4>Responsorial Psalm\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/psalms\/27:1\">PS 27:1, 4, 13-14<\/a><\/h4>\n<div class=\"poetry\">R. (1a)\u00a0The Lord is my light and my salvation.<br \/>\nThe LORD is my light and my salvation;<br \/>\nwhom should I fear?<br \/>\nThe LORD is my life\u2019s refuge;<br \/>\nof whom should I be afraid?<br \/>\nR.\u00a0The Lord is my light and my salvation.<br \/>\nOne thing I ask of the LORD;<br \/>\nthis I seek:<br \/>\nTo dwell in the house of the LORD<br \/>\nall the days of my life,<br \/>\nThat I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD<br \/>\nand contemplate his temple.<br \/>\nR.\u00a0The Lord is my light and my salvation.<br \/>\nI believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD<br \/>\nin the land of the living.<br \/>\nWait for the LORD with courage;<br \/>\nbe stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.<br \/>\nR.\u00a0The Lord is my light and my salvation.<\/p>\n<h4>Alleluia<\/h4>\n<p>R.\u00a0Alleluia, alleluia.<br \/>\nBehold, our Lord shall come with power;<br \/>\nhe will enlighten the eyes of his servants.<br \/>\nR.\u00a0Alleluia, alleluia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bibleReadingsWrapper\">\n<h4>Gospel\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/matthew\/9:27\">MT 9:27-31<\/a><\/h4>\n<div class=\"poetry\">As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out,<br \/>\n\u201cSon of David, have pity on us!\u201d<br \/>\nWhen he entered the house,<br \/>\nthe blind men approached him and Jesus said to them,<br \/>\n\u201cDo you believe that I can do this?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cYes, Lord,\u201d they said to him.<br \/>\nThen he touched their eyes and said,<br \/>\n\u201cLet it be done for you according to your faith.\u201d<br \/>\nAnd their eyes were opened.<br \/>\nJesus warned them sternly,<br \/>\n\u201cSee that no one knows about this.\u201d<br \/>\nBut they went out and spread word of him through all that land.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"poetry\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"poetry\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/maxresdefault.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-10432\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/maxresdefault.jpg?resize=300%2C169&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"maxresdefault\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/maxresdefault.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/maxresdefault.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/maxresdefault.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fr. Roger J. Landry Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan Friday of the First Week of Advent Memorial of St. John Damascene December 4, 2015 Is 29:17-24, Ps 27, Mt 9:27-31 &nbsp; To listen to an audio recording of today&#8217;s homily, please click below:\u00a0 &nbsp; The following points were attempted in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9148,1063,3,4],"tags":[8268,2575,1135,5455,9153,1757,1137,2447,7455],"class_list":["post-10429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2015-2016-year-ii","category-audio-homily","category-homily","category-year-ii","tag-blindness","tag-healing","tag-is-2917-24","tag-light-and-salvation","tag-light-and-strength","tag-mercy","tag-mt-927-31","tag-ps-27","tag-st-john-damascene"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Christ&#039;s Healing of our Blindness with Mercy, First Friday of Advent, December 4, 2015 - Catholic Preaching<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/christs-healing-of-our-blindness-with-mercy-first-friday-of-advent-december-4-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christ&#039;s Healing of our Blindness with Mercy, First Friday of Advent, December 4, 2015 - Catholic Preaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fr. Roger J. Landry Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan Friday of the First Week of Advent Memorial of St. John Damascene December 4, 2015 Is 29:17-24, Ps 27, Mt 9:27-31 &nbsp; To listen to an audio recording of today&#8217;s homily, please click below:\u00a0 &nbsp; The following points were attempted in the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/christs-healing-of-our-blindness-with-mercy-first-friday-of-advent-december-4-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic Preaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-04T13:05:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-05T01:38:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/maxresdefault-300x169.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. 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Landry Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan Friday of the First Week of Advent Memorial of St. John Damascene December 4, 2015 Is 29:17-24, Ps 27, Mt 9:27-31 &nbsp; To listen to an audio recording of today&#8217;s homily, please click below:\u00a0 &nbsp; The following points were attempted in the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/christs-healing-of-our-blindness-with-mercy-first-friday-of-advent-december-4-2015\/","og_site_name":"Catholic Preaching","article_published_time":"2015-12-04T13:05:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-12-05T01:38:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/catholicpreaching.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/maxresdefault-300x169.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Fr. Roger Landry","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. 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