Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Matthew 9:27-31

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out,
“Son of David, have pity on us!” 
When he entered the house,
the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them,
“Do you believe that I can do this?” 
“Yes, Lord,” they said to him. 
Then he touched their eyes and said,
“Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 
And their eyes were opened. 
Jesus warned them sternly,
“See that no one knows about this.” 
But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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John Newton’s hymn, Amazing Grace, may be the most sung and recorded hymn in Christian history. Believers sing from their heart with faith, gratitude, and introspection, as they connect the lyrics to their own lived experience. 

“Amazing grace,” we sing, “how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind but now I see.”

Some may be surprised to learn that Newton was a former slave trader, who found his faith in a near-death experience at sea. A particularly strong storm was threatening to swallow Newton’s ship, sending chills down his spine, causing him to cry out to God.

“If you save me,” he said in so many words, “then I will believe.”

Once the storm passed and Newton landed on solid ground, he sang of amazing grace.

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Later, Newton admitted that this “conversion moment” didn’t shake entirely shake the blindness from his eyes or the prejudice from his heart.

It would take several more years before he left the slave trade entirely and worked to end it.

For Newton, as for us all, coming to faith – and basing life-decisions upon it – was a gradual process.

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In today’s Gospel, two blind men are healed by Jesus.

While they receive their physical sight that day, only God knows how long it took for them to see clearly spiritually. While they had enough faith to call Jesus Lord, faith is often lived minute by minute.

It’s easy to believe and to praise God on “solid ground,” when all in life is in order. But it’s much harder to praise him in the middle of a storm.

Where am I on my own faith journey? How clearly do I see?

Do I see Christ present in my neighbor, in the Eucharist, even within myself?

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“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like. I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now I see.”

May the Lord grant us all eyes of faith, and strengthen us to live accordingly.

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Image credits: (1) Adobe Stock (2) Amazon.com (3) Blind Bartimaeus

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Gospel: Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house. 
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. 
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand. 
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house. 
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Part of the genius of Jesus was his ability to take ordinary things – a mustard seed, a fig tree, a sheep, a gate – and use them to describe heavenly mysteries like divine judgment, redemption, and eternal life.

In today’s Gospel, the Lord uses another simple image – a house built upon either rock or sand – to determine the fate of an individual.

Those listening directly to Christ’s teachings would’ve understood the point well. In ancient Palestine, the wadis and valleys were bone dry during the summer, providing a soft, easy surface to build a home upon.

However, anyone who did so would suffer from two fatal flaws: laziness and shortsightedness. When the winter rains came rushing in, the house – and the owner within – would be washed away.

On the other hand, a person who put the hard work of chiseling into rock would be able to withstand the buffeting winds and rain.

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Notice the Lord does not say if a storm comes, but when.

We’ve all known the cold rush of “winter rains” – loss, unemployment, anxiety, trial or tribulation in some form. 

When trials come, those whose faith is rock solid will find the grace to withstand, enduring whatever may come with God’s patience and peace. Those who haven’t put the work into their spiritual life risk being swept away.

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Can you think of a time when your faith sustained you in a storm? When did God grant you the grace of endurance?

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May the words of the Psalmist also be our own, “The floods of water may reach high, but you they shall not overcome. You are my shelter, my hiding place, O LORD. In you I find my refuge.”

My house is built upon you, my Rock.

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Image credits: (1) Adobe Stock (2) Freepik (3) Our Daily Bread, Pin Page

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Isaiah 25: 6-10

On this mountain the LORD of hosts
will provide for all peoples
A feast of rich food and choice wines,
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
The web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord GOD will wipe away
the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken.

On that day it will be said:
“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”
For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.

The Word of the Lord.

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Mountains are one of the most popular images used in the bible, appearing more than 500 times. The writers of both the New and Old Testaments were greatly familiar with them, as they dotted the terrain where the scriptures were written.

Mountains were seen as a meeting point between God, who dwells in the heavens, and his creation, dwelling here on earth. Thus, some of the most important passages in the bible occur on mountains. 

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In the Old Testament, Moses received the 10 Commandments on a mountain. Jerusalem, the holy city containing the Temple – God’s dwelling place on earth – is also built upon a mountain.

In the New Testament, Jesus is tempted by Satan on a mountain. He preaches his first public sermon, the Beatitudes, on a mountain. He is transfigured before Peter, James, and John, upon a mountain, and is later crucified upon the mount of Calvary.

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It’s fitting, then, as we begin our journey through Advent that the Church provides us with this vision from the prophet Isaiah in our first reading, who sees what happens at the end of time. 

God and his creation will commune together, sharing a heavenly meal on a mountain.

“On this mountain,” he says, “the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines… He will destroy death forever… and will wipe away the tears from all faces. On that day it will be said: Let us rejoice and be glad that God has saved us!’”

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What a beautiful image of hope!

As we await that glorious day when we are one with God and one another, the Lord provides a feast of “rich food and choice wine” at Mass, his very own Body and Blood from the mount of this altar, to console and strengthen us on our pilgrim way.

May Jesus, who has loved us and given himself for us, guide us along the way of peace, as we journey together towards the eternal mountain of the Lord.

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Image credits: (1) Bible Art (2) Rare Historical Photos, Mountains of the Holy Land, 1915 (3) Isaiah 2:1-5, YouTube