💖 HOMILY - DECEMBER 2 💖

First Reading - Isaiah 29:17-24

Gospel - Matthew 9:27-31

St. Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of lost things. Many have witnessed to the miraculous intercession of St. Anthony of Padua through which they have recovered their lost things. Restoration and recovery indeed bring joy and confidence in us. This joy and confidence may be bloistered all the more if the assurance of restoration of grace is confirmed by God. The readings of the day invite us to put our trust in the assurance of restoration promised by God which is in fact manifested in the miraculous healing works of Christ.

The first reading entails the promise of reversal of adversities or disasters experienced by the people of Israel in the foreign land due to exile. The reading instills confidence that the Lord is going to restore the people to their promised land and to His kingdom. Their sorrow will turn into joy, for the Lord is going to reverse their sorrows; sorrows of blindness, lameness, scoff, darkness etc.

The gospel of the day presents the visible sign of the establishment of God's reign by the healing of the blind men. As Isaiah had prophesied about the restoration of Israel so is manifested tangibly in the miraculous sign performed by Jesus. Jesus restores the sights of the blind men and thus they are restored to the community, for any sickness or physical deformity was considered to be curse from God as a result at times excluded from the community. Jesus, by restoring the blind men their sights, makes them part of His kingdom and their lost community.

My dear friends, the readings confirm that what was prophesied by the prophets about the promise of restoration by God is tangibly present in Jesus. Jesus, not only restores us to our physical health but also our spiritual health. What is the precondition of the restoration? It's faith. Jesus tells the blind men - let it be as you have believed. Faith encompasses our disposition to be healed. We are aware of that through our baptism we are cleansed and made pure but when sin creeps in our life, it defiles us again. This also results in spiritual sickness and sometimes in lose of heaven due to mortal sins. We are given a promise of restoration in Christ, if we duly believe in Christ and aproach Him in faith. This advent is an invitation for us to check our lives and approach Christ who is our promise of restoration in faith and trust, so that He can restore us to our original grace which is lost due to our sins.