Friday of the First Week of Advent
The first heralds of the gospel
And as Jesus passed on from there, 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.Mt 9,27-31
Jesus called the first disciples who, for three years, spent their lives with him, listened to the parables, have been present to the miracles and, day after day, assimilated his way of life. This has been a path of faith and conversion which brought them to slowly recognize in Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah which Israel was waiting for. This has been the pedagogy of Jesus with them. In the today gospel, while the disciples are carrying on with this slow path, at which end they will receive the mandate to evangelize the world and to be the first pillars of the church, these two blind men suddenly go from the full blindness, both of the eyes and the faith, to the lighting of the lordship of Jesus and become the first heralds of the gospel. Likely, they do have a limited knowledge about Abraham, Moses and the Old Testament, they only know that previously they were blind and that now they can see. This is the entire content of their evangelic announcement. Due to what reason the two blind men grasp that truth which the disciples, on the contrary, reach so slowly? The answer is only one: because they have let Jesus to touch them and they became restored to health. This fact hides a great teaching also for us. The secret of our path of faith rests not only in a slow deepening of the Jesus lordship by pondering, day after day, the Holy Scriptures. Neither the prayer which we say together in his name is sufficient. These are important moments of growth, but the real raise in the faith in Jesus will take place when, being aware of our lack of capacity to penetrate into the truth of the gospel and of loving him as he loves us, we will address him, as these two blind men, praying him to cure us. At a certain point we will also have to shout: “Son of David, have pity on us“, being capable to love and able to meditate the gospel only by the mind and not by the heart. The Lord, at this time, will personally whisper to us: “Do you believe I can do this?“ If in this moment we will answer as the two blind men: “Yes, Lord“ our eyes and our ears will open up and we will really understand the Scriptures and we will become credible witnesses of the gospel.