Mt 11: 2-11
“the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, … the poor have good news brought to them” (Mt 11:4-5).
Signs of Christmas are all around us these days. Displays in malls, decorations in homes, Christmas cards, music on the radio. We don’t have to look very hard to find them. But do they really speak of the coming of Christ into our lives? How do we find signs of God’s presence in our lives? This is the question that is proposed in today’s liturgy.[1]
The same question occupied the mind of John the Baptist. In the Gospel, we have John who is in prison. He has heard about the work Jesus has performed and sends his disciples with a question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Mt 11:3). It seems John’s expectations are not being met. It was because the peaceful and merciful way Jesus dealt with sinners. That behaviour was not at all like the one the Jews expected from their Messiah.[2] In two preceding chapters, the evangelist Matthew tells us about two miracles done by Jesus. In the first Jesus heals a leper and in the second He made the lame walk and the blind to see. Lepers were considered as people rejected and cursed by God because of their sins. Lame and blind similarly were seen to be sinners and their physical impediments were wrongly interpreted as God’s punishment for their sins.[3] John saw that Jesus did not treat ‘sinners’ the way one would expect from the Messiah. It was believed that when the Messiah comes all evil will be powerfully destroyed and sinners condemned and punished. Not only does Jesus not condemn sinners, He dines with them and calls them His friends (Mt 11:19). Instead of cutting down the unfruitful trees, as John expected, Jesus, in words from our first reading, “strengthens the weak hands, makes firm the feeble knees. And says to those who are of fearful heart, ‘Be strong do not fear’” (Is 35:3-4). Seeing the tender and merciful way Jesus deals with sinners, John is perplexed.
His disappointment and inquiry addressed to Jesus, “Are you the One …?” gives voice to our questions directly to God. We, too, often feel disappointed by God. We, too, often notice that God does not act in our lives the way we would expect. If there is an all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving God, why is His presence so obscure in our daily lives? Why do bad things happen to us? There are people abused by others; there is brokenness in our families; there are those who suffer and die by senseless acts of violence or accidents or diseases. Why is God seemingly absent, inactive, and unmoved? Is God truly present in my life?[4]
The answer Jesus gives to John and to us is not the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. Jesus describes how the presence of God is manifested, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised” (Mt 11:4-5) NRSV). In other words, do not be caught up by your expectations. Look around, God is alive and active.
There are many who were ‘blind’, not seeing light and purpose in life, but now they find meaning and light. There are many who were ‘lame’, who stumbled, not being able to walk in God’s ways, but now they find strength to walk the right path. There are those who were ‘deaf’, not able to hear other people’s needs; now they are attentive to the cry of others. There are those who were ‘dead’, without real life, but now they enjoy new life and hope. This is what happens, Jesus says, when God enters people’s lives, or better to say, when we allow God to enter our lives.[5]
We are often disappointed by God because we fail to see that anything bad could ever happen to us.[6] But paradoxically, sometimes it is through ‘bad things’ that our ‘eyes’ are opened and our ‘knees’ are strengthened. It does not mean that God wants these ‘bad things’ to happen to us; it means that God can transform evil into goodness for us. How does God transform evil into goodness?
There is an insightful story written by Gilbert Chesterton, a theologian and writer. A man died and went to hell. His business agent went down to the gates of torment to try to release him. The agent pleaded with the devil saying, “Let him out!” But to no avail. Then the man’s best friends, even his priest, came down and made the same request, “Let him out!” But, again, to no avail. The gates of hell remained firmly shut. Finally, the mother of this man came. But she did not ask for her son’s release. “Quietly, with a strange tone in her voice, she said to Satan, ‘Let me in’. Immediately the great doors swung open on their hinges. Chesterton summarizes, “For love goes down through the gates of hell and there redeems the damned.”[7]
Rolheiser points out that this is how evil and sin can be taken away and work for us. Jesus takes our sins and all evil inside Himself and transforms them.[8] Christ takes in hatred and gives back kindness; He takes in sin and gives back forgiveness. This is the way sin and evil can leave us; someone has to take it upon himself, and through a certain sacrifice of self, transform it into goodness.[9]
God does not intervene by force; He does not stop pain, evil and death. Instead, He redeems the pain and transforms evil into hope and meaning. God does so, not by using force or His miraculous power, but by taking evil and suffering upon Himself.[10] He invites us to participate in transforming evil into goodness.
We often hear a lot about evil and God’s absence but we overlook God’s presence in countless people who work selflessly to bring hope, comfort, and healing to others.[11] Each time we take in bitterness and give back comfort to others; each time we take in hatred and give back forgiveness; we become signs of God’s presence.
Jesus concludes his response to John with a beatitude, “blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me” (Mt 11:6). It means, ‘blessed is anyone who is not scandalized by the mysterious way God acts in our lives.’ Put simply, if we trust, as John finally did, that God is alive and active though He does not act the way we expect; if we, instead of bitterness give comfort, then our eyes, like the eyes of the blind, will be opened. And, in this way, we will become signs of God’s presence, signs of Christmas for those searching for God.
[1] Fr. Greg Friedman, OFM, “Daily Reflections December”. December 15, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Draa3WV3o&list=PLpTzvCOJa7DAAsw34PxZGDqnI_bBKNWa9&index=16&t=0s (accessed December 14, 2019).
[2] ASP. ”15 December, 3rd Sunday of Advent”. https://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2019/12/15-december-3rd-sunday-of-advent/ (accessed December 10, 2019).
[3] Fr. Fernando Armellini, “3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A”. December 15, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Fr.+Fernando+Armellini+3rd+Sunday+of+Advent+Year+A (accessed December 11, 2019).
[4] See, Ron Rollheiser, OMI, “Waiting for the Resurrection”. https://ronrolheiser.com/waiting-for-the-resurrection/#.XfOq4i3Mw0o (accessed December 13, 2019)
[5] Fr. Fernando Armellini, “3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A”, December 15, 2019.
[6] Jessica Fish, “Disappointment with God” https://medium.com/@jessica.thefish/disappointment-with-god-537b3a31821 (accessed December 15, 2019).
[7] Second Baptist Church, Daily Lesson for November 21, 2015. https://www.secondb.com/daily-lesson-for-november-27-2015/ accessed December 23, 2016).
[8] Ronald Rolheiser, How Jesus Takes Away the Sin of the World https:1/ronrolheiser.com/how-jesus-takes-away-the-sin-of-the-world/#.WF1SA7GZM1g (accessed December 20, 2016).
[9] Ronald Rolheiser, How Jesus Takes Away the Sin of the World. https://ronrolheiser.com/how-jesus-takes-away-the-sin-of-the-world/#.WF1SA7GZM1g (accessed December 20, 2016).
[10] See, Ron Rolheiser, OMI, “Waiting for the Resurrection” https://ronrolheiser.com/waiting-for-the-resurrection/#.XfOq4i3Mw0o (accessed December 13, 2019).
[11] See, Scott Lewis, SJ, “God’s Word on Sunday: A little digging reveals news full of hope.” https://www.catholicregister.org/faith/columnists/item/30808-god-s-word-on-sunday-a-little-digging-reveals-news-full-of-hope (accessed December 12, 2019).
Homilies - Fr. Pawel Jamroz 
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