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Friday of the First Week of Advent

Readings of the Day
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When
I was in middle school, a seemingly minor incident on the playground
while my
mother was monitoring recess duty left her with a detached retina and
needing
surgery on her right eye.  Although the doctor was able to
reattach the
retina, it kept tearing in the process, which required more
surgeries. 
Over the span of several years, she had more than 20 surgeries on the
eye to
repair it and was considered legally blind because as she described
it, "there
was a constant strobe light flashing in my eye."  Three
years ago,
however, due to technological advances in medicine, she had one more
surgery
that corrected the eye.  She no longer has the 'strobe
light', her vision
is 20/20 (with glasses), and all things considered, she is healed.

Today's
Gospel reading focuses on Jesus giving sight to two blind men. In
Matthew
9:27-28, it says, "As Jesus passed by, the two blind men
followed him, crying
out, 'Son of David, have pity on us!' When he entered the
house, the blind men
approached him."  What struck me in these first two verses
is the fact
that the men were following Jesus, and they approached him.  I
imagine
these men, as my mother did for so long, walking slowly and
cautiously, trying
to anticipate every step forward, so as not to fall.  Moving
quickly was
not in one's habit.  Yet, something also tells me that
these men felt a
strong sense of urgency to call out asking for God's
mercy. 

While
these men in the Gospel story depict physical blindness, for those who
can see
and are working in social ministry roles, it speaks more of a
spiritual
blindness, one in which we choose not to focus on Jesus, but rather,
on other
things like making a deadline, running to a meeting, or crossing one
more item
off of our 'to do' list.  This Gospel challenges
social ministers to slow down
this Advent season and really see each person we encounter as if we
were
looking at Christ himself.  

 

Catherine
Orr is the Coordinator for the national Roundtable Association of
Catholic
Diocesan Social Action Directors and the Pastoral Associate at Lumen
Christi
Parish in Mequon, WI. 

 

 

 

 




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