First Friday Holy Hour - December 2022 - The privilege of discipleship

 

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord Jesus speaks about the privilege of discipleship, the privilege of being a Christian, rather than being born prior to his coming. He says, “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

The prophets longed to see what we get to see, and hear what we get to see. The prophet delivered promises to God’s people, but were not in their lifetimes able to witness the fulfillment of those promises.

In the reading from Isaiah today, the prophet lists a number of such promises: the deaf shall hear, the eyes of the blind shall see, The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

We are the deaf who are now able to hear the Word of God Himself. Whenever the Sacraments are celebrated, that is Jesus Himself saying this is my body, this is my blood, I baptize you, I confirm you, I absolve you, I anoint you. 

We are the blind who are now able to see God, kneeling now, before his very flesh and blood made present, made visible to us. 

We are the lowly, the ones who have responded to the Lord’s invitation to humble ourselves, to trust in God who is beyond human power and understanding. And we are now able to experience a joy that the prophets could never imagine, the indwelling presence of the Holy Trinity within the human soul through the grace.

And we are the poor who are able to rejoice like no other people, able to rejoice in the victory of God over the powers of sin and death. 

What an awe-filled mystery that we are able to participate in—to come here on a normal weeknight, to keep the name of God holy, as much of the world passes us by, the revere God in an increasingly irreverent world, to be in awe, in the midst of a board, overly stimulated generation.

May this holy hour deepen our faith, our hope, and our love, as we await the celebrate of Christ’s first Advent at Christmas, and the hastening of his final Advent at history’s end, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.