Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Matthew 9: 27-31

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out,
“Son of David, have pity on us!”
When he entered the house,
the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them,
“Do you believe that I can do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they said to him.
Then he touched their eyes and said,
“Let it be done for you according to your faith.”
And their eyes were opened.
Jesus warned them sternly,
“See that no one knows about this.”
But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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John Newton’s hymn, Amazing Grace, may be the most sung and recorded hymn in Christian history. Believers sing from their heart with faith, gratitude, and introspection, as they connect the lyrics to their own lived experience. 

“Amazing grace,” we sing, “how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind but now I see.”

Some may be surprised to learn that Newton was a former slave trader, who found his faith in a near-death experience at sea. A particularly strong storm was threatening to swallow his ship whole, sending chills down his spine, causing him to cry out to God.

“If you save me,” he said in so many words, “then I will believe.”

Once the storm passed and Newton stood safely on solid ground, he sang of amazing grace.

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Later, Newton admitted that this “conversion moment” didn’t entirely shake the blindness from his eyes or the prejudice from his heart.

It would take several more years before he left the slave trade completely, working to end it.

For Newton, as for us all, faith is a gradual process.

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In today’s Gospel, two blind men are healed by Jesus.

While they receive their physical sight that day, we don’t know how long it took for them to see clear spiritually. 

Although they have enough persistence to follow Jesus through town into someone’s home, and enough faith to identify him as “Lord,” faith is not a one-time deal; it’s often lived minute by minute.

How strong are my own eyes of faith? Do I see Christ present in my neighbor, in the Eucharist, even within myself?

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“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like. I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now I see.”

May the Lord grant us all eyes of faith, and strengthen us to live accordingly.

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Image credits: (1) Independent Catholic News (2) Painting of a Ship at Sea, Stanislav Pobytov (3) Godtube.com

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Gospel: Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house. 
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. 
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand. 
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house. 
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel is the conclusion of a long sermon by Jesus, centering around a person choosing to live either a moral or an immoral life. 

Throughout his sermon, Jesus juxtaposes two different images: a wide gate versus a narrow one; sheep versus wolves; a good tree versus a rotten tree; true disciples versus false ones; and today, a house build on rock versus a house built on sand.

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Why must our foundation be solid rock, instead of sand? 

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Both surfaces can be built upon… until the floods come rushing in.

The rock withstands the force, while the sand is washed away grain by grain, splitting whatever was built upon it. Such is the person who lives an immoral life. They snap under pressure, give into temptation, and ultimately succumb to divine judgment.

Notice Jesus never guarantees his disciples a pain free life; everyone will experience an occasional storm. And, in some cases, our suffering only increases when we choose to follow him.

Walking the steep path of virtue can be trying; trusting in God demands patience; building our lives upon divine mysteries is difficult.

But the truly wise in this world not only recognize the divinity of Christ; they also recognize him as their firm foundation, so much so that no trial sweeps away their character, their hope, or their faith. Rather, they stand upon solid rock.

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When did I face a storm or crisis in life? Was Christ my firm foundation? What difference did it make?

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May the Lord grant us the grace, not only to hear his Word, but also to build our lives upon it so that nothing, not even death, can sweep us away.

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Image credits: (1) theLLabBB (2) House Built on Rock, Debbie Clark, Etsy (3) Adobe stock

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Gospel: Mark 16: 15-20

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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A businessman once approached Mark Twain with a false piety, proclaiming: 

“Before I die, I intend to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I want to climb to the top of Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud.”

To which Twain responded, “I have a better idea. Why don’t you stay right at home in Boston and keep them?”

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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis Xavier, a priest of the 16^th century who travelled extensively throughout Asia, baptizing over 40,000 people, following the command from Christ in today’s Gospel.

While that’s a remarkable feat, baptism was simply the first day in these Christians’ journeys. 

Like that businessman from Boston, they’d be challenged to not only accept the faith, but also to live it out day by day.

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We face the same challenge.

As we enter into this Advent season, how is the Lord inviting us to live out our baptism in a deeper way?

Maybe that means becoming more aware of Christ in our neighbor, especially the poor and downtrodden. For example, Americans are forecasted to spend $1 trillion this holiday season. Yet most of us don’t need another sweater or an extra pair of socks. 

But there are plenty who do. We should not forget the victims who lost everything in Hurricane Melissa. Or those who go without inside our own borders.

How different might our society be if we spent more on the poor than on those with plenty this Christmas?

Perhaps living out our baptism means growing in the virtues of faith, hope, and love; or being intentional about letting go of a grudge or a lingering habit; or more deliberate about spending time in prayer.

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As Mark Twain might say, “Whatever the Lord is inviting you to do, just stay here and do it.”

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Image credits: (1) Grace Lutheran Church (2) Saint Francis Baptizing, Britannica, 18th century (3) Stockcake