What Faith Can Achieve

Homily for Friday of the 1st Week in Advent

Which do you think takes greater faith to believe: that two blind men have their sight restored as in the Gospel today or that the tyrant and the arrogant will disappear from our midst as prophesied by Isaiah? Personally, I tend to think it would be the latter.

When the two blind men ask for their sight, Jesus’ response is “Let it be done to you according to your faith.” In other words, if they really believed that Jesus could do this, they would receive that for which they ask.

Every day when we celebrate the Eucharist, we pause to offer our intercessory prayers. We dare to ask God to listen to us and to answer our prayer. Are our needs fulfilled? Does what we ask for really happen? Jesus’ response to us is the same response that he gave to the two blind men. It will happen according to our faith. That places the responsibility for our petitions squarely on our shoulders. If we really believe, then our prayers will be answered. We know this because the Incarnation has already happened. Jesus is with us. The promises God made in the Hebrew Scriptures have been fulfilled. Jesus did inaugurate the reign of God. If we believe that, then we can ask for anything; God will hear our prayer and grant our desire according to our faith.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator