Reflection
Advent readings are special. Each day the Old Testament and Gospel readings are specifically selected to address specific Advent themes. Did you happen to recognize today’s commonality? Isaiah 29 is about blindness and sight, calling out those who are arrogant and ignorant. But then, Isaiah adds, something great shall break through.
“Out of the gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.”
I can imagine a Hollywood movie script bringing this last line to the big screen.
The reading from Isaiah is complemented with Jesus healing the two blind men. This is far more than just two men having their physical sight restored. They now can see so clearly that they “see” who Jesus truly is. And even though he discourages them from bringing this up before others, how can they not tell everyone about him? They have “seen” the messiah in the fullest sense of the word, —with their very soul. Having been impacted so deeply the truth of Jesus’ identity stares them in the face. A similar story is to the conversion account of St. Paul the Apostle.
In some ways, these readings are powerful for our day and time. Again, emphasizing that seeing is more than just physical sight, our lives are filled with individuals who claim they can see yet whose behaviors threaten or harm others. Yet, as Isaiah links this to terms like arrogance and ignorance, so too, a term that comes to my mind today is that whole area of self-assurance and self-image. When a person doesn’t have a healthy self-identity, their clarity of vision suffers. This ultimately affects relationships and belief systems, robbing individuals of their true identity in Christ. Perhaps this is why the Fourth Evangelist wrote,
“For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
John 9:39
Today’s Advent readings invite us to prepare our eyes to see the beauty and truth of the incarnation. And like the two men who are healed, when we see this, we will forever be different.
