Cycle A 3rd Sunday of Advent
Is 35:1-6,10; Ja 5:7-10; Mt 11:2-11
Sometime during the sixteenth century, in Velankanni, India, our Lady with her infant son appeared to a Hindu boy carrying milk to a customer’s home. Our Lady asked for milk for her Son and the boy gave her some. On reaching the customer’s home, the boy related the incident that occurred on his way and apologized for his being late, and the reduced amount of milk. But, the man found the milk pot to be full and realized that something miraculous had happened.
That man wanted to see the place where the apparition occurred. When they reached the tank, Our Lady appeared once again. On learning that Our Lady appeared to the boy, the residents of the local Catholic community became ecstatic. Hearing about the miracle thousands of people visited to see the place, and the boy.
About two thousand years ago a message spread in Galilee that a man among them, Jesus of Nazareth, was performing miracles. The news became a sensation in and around Galilee. Thousands of people flocked around him, probably out of curiosity, to see him giving sight to the blind, making the deaf hear, helping the lame walk and curing the lepers. This has already been announced by Prophet Isaiah about 740 before the birth of Jesus.
“Look your God is coming.
then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy.”
Manny prophets of the Old Testament announced the Coming of the Messiah. Mica spoke about the birth of a king in Bethlehem, (Micah 5:2). Isaiah announced that the Messiah would bring peace; John the Baptist announced the judgment of God.
When John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the promised messiah, probably he visualized a transformation of the Physical world. People dreamt of redemption from the worldly suffering and perceived a second Exodus. Their hope was strengthened by the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah in Jesus.
But, greater hardships were in Store for John. He was imprisoned in the fortress palace of Machaerus. Machaerus was a fortified hilltop palace located in Jordan fifteen miles southeast of the mouth of the Jordan River. The hilltop, which stands about 1,100 meters above Dead Sea level, is surrounded on all sides by deep ravines which offer great natural strength.
John was leading a life of unbound freedom. He was the son of wilderness. Now he is confined to the four walls of the prison. He spent about 10 months in isolation and totally estranged from the world. Loneliness and suffering brought doubts to John. He grew impatient and sent his disciples to Jesus with the question,
“Are you the one who is to come?
or have we got to wait for someone else….?
When doubts obsessed John, when loneliness had overtaken him, when darkness surrounded him, when hope seemed to fail, the only solution before John was to send a question to Jesus. We also experience such moments in our lives. There are moments when we have to face trials. There are moments when we are pressed down with illness. There are moments when we have to face persecution. There are moments when we are betrayed by our best friends. There are moments when we are disowned by those who have been the beneficiaries of our benevolence. There are moments when our own weakness overtakes us. No matter what our sufferings are, no matter what trial we go through, no matter what disappointments we have, we can send our message to Jesus as John did.
Jesus’ answer to John was:
“Go back and tell John what you hear and see;
the blind see again, and the lame walk
lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear,
and the dead are raised to life
and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.”
Jesus’ answer to John had a greater spiritual meaning more than that of the factual experience. The Gospels narrate a number of incidents where the blind receive sight from Jesus. Jesus cured one blind man outside the village of Bethsaida (Mk 8:22-26). Jesus cured two blind men in Galilee (Mat 9:27-31) Jesus cured the man blind since birth, near the Temple of Jerusalem (Jn 9:1-7). Jesus cured blind Bartimaeus. But there were thousands at the time of Jesus, and millions after that, who have received their spiritual enlightenment. The psalmist prayed: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law (Psalm 119:18). The message of Jesus opened the eyes of the disciples and they left everything and followed Him. When Jesus entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him. The Centurion declared at the foot of the cross that “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Today, the message of Jesus should open our eyes too, to the divine truths. As people who had been blind to everything that was not material gain, began to see God’s love and discovered his plans for them, we should also discover God’s plans for us.
Deaf people regained hearing and dumb people spoke again. Jesus healed the deaf-mute boy (Mk 9:25-27). Jesus healed a deaf and dumb man (Mk 71:31). The message of Jesus brought about revolutionary changes during his time and during the last twenty centuries. Zacchaeus listened to the teachings of Jesus and became a changed man. Mary Magdalene listened to the message of Jesus and expressed her grief in tears. The thief on the cross heard the forgiving words of Jesus and prayed for his mercy. St Paul heard the voice of Jesus, and he left everything to follow Him. The voice of Jesus called St. Francis of Assisi, and he abandoned his ambition in order to follow Jesus. The words of Jesus fall on our ears, when we listen to the passages from the Bible, and when we listen to the preaching of the word of God. From our ears it should pierce into our hearts.
There is a story about St Thomas Aquinas. After he had finished Summa Theologica, being pleased with his meritorious work Jesus asked him what he desired. St Thomas replied, "Only you Lord. Only you”. When the word of God reaches our very essence we will be able to give up everything and declare with St Thomas, I want nothing but you Lord!
These are the miracles that should happen among us today. So the church will be able to declare:
“The blind see, the lame walk
lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear,
and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor.”
Satish
Some useful Anecdotes for this homily.
1. Why are you outside? – Not involved: Henry David Thoreau was an American writer who authored the renowned essay ‘Civil Disobedience’. He championed the freedom of the individual over the law of the land. He distinguished between ‘law’ and ‘right’. He wrote: ‘What the majority passes is the ‘law’ and what the individual conscience sees is the ‘right’, and what matters most is the ‘right’ and not the ‘law’.” Once Thoreau was imprisoned for a night for his refusal to pay the poll-tax as a protest against the government’s support of slavery and its unjust war against Mexico presumably in support of slave trade intentions. When he was arrested, he hoped that some of his friends would follow his example and fill the jails, and in this way persuade the government to change its stance on the issue of slavery. In this he was disappointed. Not only did his friends not join him, one friend paid the tax on his behalf and got him released the very next day. When he was in the prison, Emerson, another American writer, came to visit him. He said to Thoreau: “Thoreau, Thoreau, why are you inside (jail)?” And Thoreau replied, “Emerson, Emerson, why are you outside?” Thoreau was a great lover of truth. He suffered because he spoke and stood for truth. Emerson said in his obituary of Thoreau, “He was a great speaker and actor of truth.” -John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
2. Strengthen Weary Hands: Little Miriam and her daddy were crossing a narrow bridge over a river. Fearing for his child, Miriam’s daddy said to her, “Sweethear, please hold nmyhand so that you don’t fall into the river.” Miriam said, “No, daddy! You hold my hand.” Puzzled, her father asked: “What’s the difference?” “There’s a big difference.” Replied Miriam. “If I hold your hand and something happens to me, I may let go of your hand. But if you hold my hand, I’m sure that no matter what happens, you’ll never let go of my hand.” Like Miriam, the Israelites rested safe and secure in God’s Hnds. God’s hand –and their helping hands—signified hope.
3. The Hand of God: Former Director of School Education of Tamil Nadu, India, and ambassador of UNESCO, H. S. S. Lawrence’s autobiography is entitled ‘The Hand of God: My Life and Time’. Lawrence, a committed Christian, was instrumental in introducing the 10+2+3 system of education in Tamil Nadu and pushed for primary education in North-East India too. In the preface Lawrence writes: “I wish to present my life as a record of faith and surrender in our Lore Jesus.” What a wonderful way of ‘strengthening weary hands’ by illumining uneducated minds!
4. Unfinished play: Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American writer. When he died in 1864, he had on his desk the outline of a play he never got a chance to finish. The play centered around a person who never appeared on stage. Everyone talked about him. Everyone dreamed about him. Everyone awaited his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of minor characters described him. They told everybody what he would be like. They told everybody what he would do. But the main character never appeared. The Old Testament is something like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s play. It too ended without the main character putting in an appearance. Everyone talked about the Messiah. Everyone dreamed about him. Everyone awaited his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, told the people what he would be like. They told the people what he would do, But the Messiah never appeared. -Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
5. Disillusioned or determined: In her book Return to Love, Marianne Williamson points out that a friend said to her, “Marianne, I’m so depressed by world hunger!” Marianne replied: “Do you give five dollars a week to one of the organizations that feed the hungry?” She goes on to say she asks this question because she has noticed how people who participate in solving problems don’t seem to be as depressed as those standing on the sidelines doing nothing. Application: Have we recently gone out of our way to help someone? -Gerard Fuller in ‘Stories for all Seasons’