One of the signs that Jewish people expected would prove the Messiah had come was that he would restore sight to the blind. We heard Isaiah in our first reading:
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to
save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears
of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing. (Isa 35:4-6)
Jesus fulfilled that prophecy. When Jesus cured the blind man in John 9, Jewish leaders didn’t believe the man had been blind, but the man defended Jesus’ authenticity. He said, “It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind.” (John 9:32)
When John the Baptist was in prison for preaching fidelity in marriage, he sent messengers asking if Jesus really were the expected Messiah. Jesus’ response was clear:
Go and tell John what
you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
(Matt 11:4-6)
So, according to Jesus, the matter was closed. He fulfilled the expectations associated with the coming of the Messiah.
There were other expectations also associated with the coming of the Messiah, that there would be a new gift of manna and that there would be an abundance of wine. Jesus fed the multitudes with the five loaves and two fish, so he fulfilled the expectation of bread from heaven. At Cana he changed an enormous quantity of water into wine fulfilling the expectation of an abundance of wine.
So, if Jesus fulfilled all these expectations, especially the key miracle of restoring sight to the blind, why didn’t everyone believe him? The leaders did acknowledge that Jesus performed these miracles, but they didn’t believe his miracles came from God. They accused Jesus of performing his miracles by the power of the devil. In the chapter after today’s Gospel, we hear this conversation between Jesus and those who didn’t believe in his miracles:
“This man drives out demons only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.” But [Jesus] knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand? (Matt 12:24-26)
The same continues since the time of Jesus—not believing in goodness and thinking evil of goodness. People had suspicions about the miracles and ministry of Padre Pio. For two years he could only say a private Mass but not a public Mass and could not hear confessions until the matter was resolved. St. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. Twenty years after her death, her trial was declared invalid. I have read that in the tower where her trial took place, on one side you can see the decree condemning her and on the other side the decree exonerating her. It took a couple of years for Padre Pio to be restored. St. Joan of Arc only received justice twenty years after he death. Cardinal Pell was waiting two years for him to be acquitted of his conviction. They have one thing in common: remaining patient and faithful to God no matter what was said about them. They lived Advent, hoping in God during the difficult time of their lives. The second reading was fulfilled in them:
Be patient, brothers
and sisters,
until the coming of the Lord.
See how the farmer
waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
being patient with it
until it receives the early and the late rains.
You too must be
patient.
Make your hearts firm,
because the coming of the Lord
is at hand. (James 5:7-8)
Like Jesus when people spoke falsely against them, they persevered in goodness because that is the only way to live. Just as they were exonerated, John the Baptist in prison was exonerated by Jesus in today’s Gospel when Jesus said, “among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist.” (Matt 11:11) Yet since technically John the Baptist is the last of the Old Testament prophets and died before Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant with this death on Calvary, the least in the kingdom is greater than he.
Unfortunately to this day, speaking evil about goodness and good people continues. When your Catholic faith is maligned in a way that could only be described as malicious, remember the words of the second reading and the steadfastness in faith of the persecuted saints:
Be patient, brothers
and sisters,
until the coming of the Lord.
See how the farmer
waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
being patient with it
until it receives the early and the late rains.
You too must be
patient.
Make your hearts firm. (James 5:7-8)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2025
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
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