December 5, 2025
Friday of the First Week of
Advent
Lectionary: 179
Reading
1
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
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Behold, our Lord shall come with power;
he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120525.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
29:17-24
Today’s Mass is about seeing. The First Reading gives
promise of a future full of hope. The prophet presents God’s plan of redemption
in terms of happenings that could hardly be hoped for under normal
circumstances, such as the cedars of Lebanon becoming a source of fruit and the
fruitful field becoming a forest.
But more striking still is that the deaf will be able to
hear, and the blind will be able to emerge from their world of darkness and
see. The meek, that is those who are without power or influence, will find
fresh joy in the Lord, while the neediest will rejoice in their God.
On the other hand, the tyrant, the scoffer and the doer of
evil will come to a sad end. Those especially mentioned are those who corrupt
the administration of justice.
Abraham is proposed as a model to be followed. Just as he
answered God’s call in faith and journeyed to a promised land he had never
seen, so he becomes a model for those who return to Judah and Jerusalem from
their period in exile. Abraham had been called out of a land of idolatry, and so
it is with Jacob, that is, the descendants of Abraham of whom Isaiah now speaks
(Jacob was also known as Israel).
If they have the spirit of Abraham,
…those who err in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
Their eyes and their ears will have been opened.
Today is a day for us to be aware of our own blindness and
our own deafness. Like the Israelites of Isaiah’s time, we have difficulty
really hearing the Word of God, and how many of us can claim that we can see
Jesus as he really is?
In our preparation for the celebration of Christmas, we must
learn how to listen to God’s Word with understanding and acceptance, and learn
how to see deeply into the meaning of his life as it is presented to us in
Jesus.
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Commentary on
Matthew 9:27-31
Our readings today are both about seeing. The Gospel speaks
about the healing of two blind men. It is a story which we also find in Mark’s
Gospel, but here with significant differences. For instance, Mark has only one
blind man while Matthew has two. It is important that we not read
this as just another miracle, another proof of Jesus’ divine power.
It begins with two blind men going after Jesus—calling after
him in desperation:
Have mercy on us, Son of David!
There is already an element of faith in calling Jesus by
this messianic name (“Son of David”) and it also points to the healing power of
Jesus; he is more than an ordinary rabbi. When they catch up to Jesus, he asks
them:
Do you have faith that I can do this?
Without their trust in him, Jesus cannot do anything for
them.
We remember what was said about the unbelieving people of
Nazareth. These men say they do believe and Jesus responds:
According to your faith, let it be done to you.
They get their sight back. They can now see. Jesus tells
them not to say anything about it. Jesus is not interested in being a
sensation; he does not want people to have a wrong idea of his real mission.
But they ignored his appeal and went about telling everyone of what had
happened.
There is more here than meets the eye! What we have here is not
just the restoration of their physical sight. They have gained ‘in-sight’. They
can really see. They can see who Jesus really is, the Word of God, the Action
of God—and they simply have to share that experience with
everyone else. It is not something that they can keep to themselves.
It is significant that the following story is about the
healing of a man who is unable to speak. There are several instances of Jesus’
healing people of muteness, deafness and blindness in the Gospel. As disciples
of Christ we need to be able to see and understand the message of Jesus and
then we need to proclaim it everywhere.
Today is a day for us to be aware of our own blindness and
our own deafness. We often have difficulty really hearing and accepting the
Word of God, and how many us can claim that we can see Jesus as he really is?
If we are to celebrate Christmas properly, we must learn how to listen to God’s
Word, with understanding and acceptance, and learn how to see deeply into the
meaning of his life as it is presented to us. And it starts right there with
the baby in the stable.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/a1016g/
Friday,
December 5, 2025
1st Week of
Advent
Opening Prayer
Lord God, Father of all, in Your
Son Jesus Christ You invite everyone and all to know and love You and to live
in Your unending peace.
Keep alive in us the zeal to bring the
light of Your truth and the riches of Your life and love to all, without any
distinction of race, language or culture. May everyone on earth come to know
You as the merciful Father of all through our brother and Savior, Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 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.
Reflection
Once again, today’s Gospel places
before us the encounter of Jesus with human misery. Jesus does not withdraw. He
does not hide. He accepts others and in accepting them, full of tenderness, He
reveals God’s love.
•
Two blind men follow Jesus and cry out to Him,
“Son of David, have pity on us!” Jesus did not much like the title of Son of
David. He criticizes the teaching of the scribes who said that the Messiah
should be the Son of
David: “David himself calls Him Lord: How then can He be his
son?” (Mk 12:
37).
•
Reaching home, Jesus asks the blind men, “Do you
believe that I can do this?” And they answer: “Yes, Lord!” It is one thing to
have true doctrine in the head, and a very different thing to have correct
faith in the heart. The doctrine of the two blind men was not too right,
because they called Jesus Son of David. But Jesus does not care to be called
this. What is important to Him is to have a correct faith.
•
He touches the eyes and says, “May it be done to
you according to your faith!” Immediately the eyes were opened. Although they
did not possess correct doctrine, the two blind men had correct faith. Today
many people are more concerned about correct doctrine than about correct faith.
•
It is good not to forget a small detail of
hospitality. Jesus reaches the house and the two blind men also enter the
house, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. They feel at ease in
Jesus’ house. And how about today? A religious Sister said, “Today the
situation of the world is such that I feel mistrustful even toward the poor!”
The situation has changed very much from then to now!
•
Jesus asks them not to speak about the miracle.
But the prohibition was not respected very much. Both of them went out and
spread the Good News. To proclaim the Gospel, that is, the Good News, means to
share with others the good which God does in our life.
Personal Questions
•
Do I have in my life some Good News from God to
share with others?
•
On which point do I insist more: on correct doctrine
or on correct faith?
•
How is it possible to separate doctrine and
faith in practice?
Concluding Prayer
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? (Ps 27)
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