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.”
Matthew 9:28-29
It’s hard not to read today’s daily Advent Gospel reading and think of the Angelus and our prayer to “Be it done unto me according to thy Word.”
By saying this prayer, we express our openness to God’s will in our lives. We stand with Mary as a handmaid seeking to serve the Lord and responding to his Word.
Sometimes, though, we seek out God’s pity. We reach out to the Lord in hopes that he will help us with some specific pain or suffering we are going through. Like the blind men, we can be in desperate need of God’s help.
Think about how the men could have acted. They could have been angry with God. They could have resented the Lord and criticized Jesus for their blindness. Often this is how people respond to suffering.
Instead, they humbly seek out his touch. They have lost everything and turn to him. They rely only on their faith in him.
God responds to our faith. He heals us and helps us because of our openness to his working in our lives. By praying the Angelus every day we express that openness. We prepare ourselves to respond, like the blind men, to Jesus response to our petitions: “Do you believe I can do this?”
Yes, Lord, we do.
