Friday, 1st Week of Advent
“Two blind men followed him…”
Blindness in the Bible is very often a symbol of spiritual blindness. It is the incapacity to see what is really the case; the inability to take in what truly matters; the incapacity to see “the big picture.” (Robert Barron)
Matthew relates this unique story of Jesus passing by and healing, not one, but two blind men. The Church liturgy presents Advent and Christmas as a feast of lights. Advent should be a journey for us from darkness to light. This should be a time for us to move from blindness to seeing what finally matters.
All of us, to one degree or another, are spiritually blind. The problem today is that most people are spiritually blind, but they do not know it. They act as though they can see. Focused on the worldly goods of wealth, pleasure, power, and honor, they do not see how blind they are to the truly important things: giving oneself to the grace of God and living a life of love.
Bishop Robert Barron, in his eBook, “New King for a New Kingdom,” has very strong words about this matter – saying: “I don’t care how much you’ve got in the eyes of the world. I don’t care how rich, famous, or popular you are. If you have not surrendered to the grace of God, you are blind!” How wonderful it is, then, that the two blind men in the gospel reading can cry out to Jesus in their need: “Son of David, have pity on us!”
Let this be a part of our Advent prayer: “Lord Jesus, have pity on me… heal me of my blindness.” Let us pray for spiritual vision: To be able to see what really matters. To know what our life is about, to know the big picture, to know where we are going.
Let this Advent season be a moment of healing for us… that we may see what we ought to see. As followers of Christ, we must be able to see with the eyes of Christ. We must have a Chris-like sight or vision. Another way of putting it: Our eyes must be Christified… again, to see what is really important in life… to see what ultimately and finally matters.
Parokya ni Osong 