Daily Mass Reflections - 12/7
“Christ is everything for us. If you wish to cure a wound, he is doctor. If you desire heaven, he is the way. If you seek food, he is nourishment. If you flee from the darkness, he is the light.” ~ Saint Ambrose
This quote by the great Bishop and Doctor of our Church Saint Ambrose, whose Feast Day we celebrate today, serves as the perfect lead in for today’s Reading (Isaiah 29:17-24) and Gospel (Matthew 9:27-31), both of which deal with the notion of sight and vision in both the physical and spiritual sense.
“Out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see” the Advent Prophet Isaiah promises, as he continues to tirelessly evangelize about the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we dwell on the glory and joyful anticipation of this beautiful vision, it serves to galvanize us as we navigate the choppy seas of death, heartbreak, addiction and destruction, all of which reign in this the fleeting and finite world. We await not only the coming of our Savior at Christmas, but we await his final coming, that day when “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4).
In today’s Gospel, one in which Jesus cures the two blind men, it is clear that it was their faith that healed them. Jesus says as much when upon restoring their sight he replies “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” Through our faith, we can be healed of our spiritual blindness, an affliction perhaps even more tragic than an inability to physically see, especially when contemplated through the lens of our eternal fate.
Bishop Barron tells us that “Faith allows someone to live in detachment from all of the ups and downs of life. In the language of Saint Ignatius of Loyola: "Lord, I don’t care whether I have a long life or a short life, whether I am rich or poor, whether I am healthy or sick."
We should all strive for such spiritual
detachment, for those who achieve it are truly free, truly powerful.
I’d like to leave you all with a prayer that I recite every morning at Mass. It is a prayer which seeks the intercession of Saint Lucy, the Patron Saint of good eyesight who’s Feast Day we will in fact celebrate in less than a week. This prayer speaks of a vision that goes far beyond that of the 20/20 variety; this prayer speaks of the type of spiritual vision that brings glory and honor to God, the type of vision that will lead our Souls and all the Souls whom we encounter to eternal paradise.
.......May the Lord always be your light and your salvation.
“O God, our Creator and Redeemer, Mercifully hear our prayers that a we venerate Thy servant, St. Lucy, for the light of faith Thou didst bestow upon her, Thou wouldst vouchsafe to increase and to preserve this same light in our souls, that we may be able to avoid evil, to do good and to abhor nothing so much as the blindness and the darkness of evil and of sin.
Relying on Thy goodness, O God, we humbly ask Thee, by the intercession of Thy servant, St. Lucy that Thou wouldst give perfect vision to our eyes, that they may serve for Thy greater honor and glory, and for the salvation of our souls in this world, that we may come to the enjoyment of the unfailing light of the Lamb of God in paradise.
St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, hear our prayer and obtain our petitions.” ~ Amen
