Daily Scriptures Reflection and Morning Prayer for Friday, December 6, 2013

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Scripture: Lectionary 180. Dec.6.Isaiah 29:17-24. Psalm 27:1.4.13-14. Matthew 9:27-31.

Our faith is often described in the Scriptures as light and spiritual vision. Today our Gospel and the other scriptural readings are focused on light and vision both in the natural dimension and in the spiritual realm. Light is very important as a symbol during Advent for as we know the four candles point to the everlasting Light of the World, Christ Jesus born of the Virgin Mary.

Jesus has read the scroll of Isaiah and has used it for his own proclamation about God and about his mission in God’s plan of salvation for all of us. Though other healings are mentioned by Isaiah in today’s selection the one on healing the blind fits in with what Jesus does in the Gospel. He will heal two blind men who believe and request that they be given sight. They have that inward vision of faith that gives them the confidence to trust that Jesus can heal them. They pray to him in their request, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us.” We recognize the basics of the Jesus Prayer in their petition. They may have repeated it several times but Matthew only gives us it once. As the scene moves on we realize they are in constant communication with Jesus and respond to his questions. Then they call him Lord which for our ears is an invocation of his power to heal as Son of God and Savior.

The question and the response helps us to see how initial belief and trust grows by staying with Jesus and his effort to converse with them. Their faith becomes effective because of their patience, their trust, and their confidence in him. Once they are healed they want to share what they have received and to make Jesus known even though he told them not to spread news about what had just happened. They became disciples of Jesus by realizing that he had healed them and such good news had to be shared.

We are Advent people and are led by these readings to thank God for our sight but also to ask that our inner vision be developed, increased, and become effective in sharing what we have received with others. It is important for us to keep calling upon the Lord who is the Light of the world who can help us in any of our deficiencies in inward vision. Dedication to prayer is important for us to make progress in our seeing what God does for us. In whatever blindness we may experience we will be healed by Jesus who does have loving-kindness and compassion for each of us as his brothers and sisters. Our Psalm 27 has the response, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” This is an excellent Jesus prayer for this particular day in Advent. It is worthwhile to read it in its entirety and to experience the light of salvation. Amen.