CCC Cross Reference:
Mt 9:27 439, 2616
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Reading 1
Is 29:17-24
Thus says the Lord God:
But a very little while,
and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,
and the orchard be regarded as a forest!
On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.
The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord,
and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
For the tyrant will be no more
and the arrogant will have gone;
All who are alert to do evil will be cut off,
those whose mere word condemns a man,
Who ensnare his defender at the gate,
and leave the just man with an empty claim.
Therefore thus says the Lord,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:
Now Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of,
nor shall his face grow pale.
When his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall keep my name holy;
they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob,
and be in awe of the God of Israel.
Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
and those who find fault shall receive instruction.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
One thing I ask of the Lord;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord
and contemplate his temple.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Gospel
Mt 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.
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Isaiah 29:17 – 24
In a short time, a very short time,
shall not Lebanon become fertile land
and fertile land turn into forest?
The deaf, that day,
will hear the words of a book
and, after shadow and darkness,
the eyes of the blind will see.
But the lowly will rejoice in the Lord even more
and the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel;
for tyrants shall be no more, and scoffers vanish,
and all be destroyed who are disposed to do evil:
those who gossip to incriminate others,
those who try at the gate to trip the arbitrator
and get the upright man’s case dismissed for groundless reasons.
Therefore the Lord speaks,
the God of the House of Jacob,
Abraham’s redeemer:
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale,
for he shall see what my hands have done in his midst,
he shall hold my name holy.
They will hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
stand in awe of the God of Israel.
Erring spirits will learn wisdom
and murmurers accept instruction.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 26(27):1,4,13-14
The Lord is my light and my help.
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?
The Lord is my light and my help.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple.
The Lord is my light and my help.
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
The Lord is my light and my help.
Gospel Matthew 9:27 – 31
As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, ‘Take pity on us, Son of David’. And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Sir, we do’. Then he touched their eyes saying, ‘Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you’. And their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one learns about this’. But when they had gone, they talked about him all over the countryside.
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Friday of the 1st Week of Advent
From: Isaiah 29:17-24
Against Those Who Hide from the Lord (Continuation)
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[17] Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? [18] In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.
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Commentary:
29:15-24. The third "woe" marks the start of the third lamentation. First, it describes the ridiculous situation of someone who thinks he can escape divine judgment (vv. 15-16). The simile of the clay and the potter (cf. the note on Jer 18:1-12) shows how senseless it is to deny that man has a "Maker", or to try to tell God that he doesn't know what he is doing. The prophet denounces the folly shown by the people of Judah who have wandered away from God. In Romans 9:20-21, St Paul will use the argument of v. 16 to show that God is free to do as he wishes with nations and individuals (cf. 45:9).
However, things will change (vv. 17-24). The Lord is going to take action and when he does, no one will be able to evade him: the deaf will hear, the blind will see, there will be no more oppression or hardness of heart. Cure of illnesses, specifically release from deafness and blindness (vv. 18-19; cf. 35:5), is a feature of messianic times; it will be the signal that the kingdom has been reconstituted. St Matthew says that when Jesus was told about the questions asked by the disciples of John -- was Jesus he who was to come, or should they wait for another -- he replied: "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me" (Mt 11:4-6; cf. Is 26:19; 35:5-6; 61:1-3). Thus, by referring to these actions of his, Jesus is showing that he is the Messiah, whose mission is to establish the Kingdom of God, just as Isaiah had prophesied.
The last promise (vv. 22-24) is deeply rooted in patriarchal tradition. The vocation of Abraham (this is the only place in the Bible where he is described as "redeemed") and the story of Jacob who managed to survive all kinds of danger, form the foundation for all hope of an enduring deliverance and salvation.
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From: Matthew 9:27-31
The Curing of Two Blind Men. The Dumb Devil
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[27] And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." [28] When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." [29] Then he touched their eyes, saying, " According to your faith be it done to you." [30] And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, "See that no one knows it." [31] But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
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Commentary:
27-34. The evangelist shows people's different reactions to miracles. Everyone admits that God is at work in these events -- everyone, that is, except the Pharisees who attribute them to the power of the devil. A pharisaical attitude so hardens a person's heart that he becomes closed to any possibility of salvation. The fact that the blind men recognize Jesus as the Messiah (they call him "Son of David": v. 27) may have exasperated the Pharisees. Despite Jesus' sublime teaching, despite his miracles, they remain entrenched in their opposition.
In the light of this episode it is easy enough to see that the paradox is true: there are blind people who in fact see God and seers who see no trace of him.
30. Why did our Lord not want them to publicize the miracle? Because his plan was to gradually manifest himself as the Messiah, the Son of God. He did not want to anticipate events which would occur in their own good time; nor did he want the crowd to start hailing him as Messiah King, because their notion of messiah was a nationalistic, not a spiritual one. However, the crowd did in fact proclaim him when he worked the miracles of the loaves and the fish (Jn 6:14- 15): "When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, 'This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!' Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew, again to the hills by himself."
31. St Jerome (cf. "Comm. on Matthew", 9, 31) says that the blind men spread the news of their cure, not out of disobedience to Jesus, but because it was the only way they could find to express their gratitude.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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