December 5: Restoring Our Vision / Restaurando Nuestra Visión

Luke 9 records this event: “Two blind men followed Jesus, crying loudly, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David!’ 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.’ Then He touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you.’ And their eyes were opened.”

How often have we heard the expression “Seeing is believing?” We have convinced ourselves that we believe something because we can see it. But St. Hilary of Poitiers said, “The blind men did not believe because they saw; they saw because they believed.”

Nonetheless, we worship sight, we treasure observation and verification. The English language has an absurd bias in favor of it: we even go so far as to say, “I see what you’re saying!” 

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Try the expression the other way around: “believing is seeing.” In this sense, when it comes to matters of the spirit, it is true that we see nothing until we have in some sense committed ourselves.

 “According to your faith let it be done to you,” Jesus said to the blind men. Then they saw – because they believed.

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En este tiempo de espera, el Adviento, la Palabra de Dios nos da una visión de esperanza. Los poderosos que confían en su propio poder y en sus alianzas se derrumbarán y serán aplastados, pero los pobres, sordos, ciegos, o sea, los que todavía creen en la presencia y en la acción de Dios en el mundo, verán la salvación. Así lo prometen los profetas en nombre de Dios. Cuando celebramos la eucaristía, profesamos nuestra fe de que Dios, de hecho, comienza, en Jesús, el cumplimiento de su promesa. Él restaura la visión de los ciegos, porque creen.

Que Dios abra nuestros ojos para que podamos mirarnos con ojos de fe a nosotros mismos, a nuestros prójimos, y a este nuestro mundo. Entonces esperamos que pocos espacios quedarán oscuros en nuestra vida.