- Father David M. Knight
Father David's Reflection for the First Friday of Advent
The Responsorial Psalm gives us the guiding light to fulfillment: “The Lord is my light and my salvation!” (Psalm 27).
Isaiah 29: 17-24 tells us that the Lord leads us “out of gloom and darkness” and into fulfillment by making the deaf hear and the blind see. Then “those who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who find fault will accept instruction.”
We are gloomy and we gripe because we don’t feel fulfilled. Life is frustrating because we are off course and society is off course. And there seems to be no remedy for it. But there is. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Matthew 9:27-31 tells us Jesus is the remedy. Two men came to him who were blind. They weren’t just walking around with their eyes closed or looking in the wrong place. They were blind. They could not see. And Jesus healed them.
If we think we are hopelessly confused — or our society is — we are not really hoping in Jesus. He came to be the Light of the world. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” He is “the true light, which enlightens everyone” (John 1: 4-14). The light is here. It is available. If we come to Jesus he can enlighten us. If we just walk in his light we will get to where we really want to go.
But first we have to believe that Jesus really can enlighten us. He asked the two blind men, “Are you confident I can do this?” We have to ask ourselves whether we really do have confidence in him. If we don’t, we will listen bored to Christ’s words read at Mass and look at the example of his life without real attention. We won’t be listening to what we hear or really looking at what we see. We won’t have hope.
“The Lord is our light and our salvation!” If we let him be our light we will experience that he is our salvation. But he can’t be one without the other.
Initiative: If you seek fulfillment, seek it where it can be found. Listen to Jesus. The wise men (Magi) followed the light of a star and found Jesus. The shepherds listened to the song of the angels and found Jesus. Am I willing to listen to whatever will help me find him? Will I read Scripture? Will I listen in prayer to the voice of the Holy Spirit in my heart? Will I listen to the teaching of the Church? Am I willing to make a decision now about when, where and how I will do this?
