4 December 2026 · Latin Rite
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“Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.”” Matthew 9:29
Isaiah describes the transformation God will bring: Lebanon becomes a fruitful field, “the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see”, the meek find joy, the tyrant disappears. Advent is the season of this hope.
Two blind men follow Jesus crying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” They call him by his messianic title, though they cannot see him. In the house Jesus asks them one question: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord.” He touches their eyes: “According to your faith let it be done to you.” Their eyes are opened. Faith sees before the eyes do. St John Damascene, remembered today, defended the veneration of icons: in Christ the invisible God has become visible, and we may look on his face.
Theme: “Do you believe?”
God promises sight; Jesus asks for faith; faith sees in the dark.
“On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” Isaiah 29:18
“Then he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”” Luke 18:38
Apply: Pray for someone who cannot see God's hand in their life.
“Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—in peace because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
“When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.”” Matthew 9:28–29
Apply: Say “Yes, Lord, I believe” about your deepest need.
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Apply: Spend time before the Blessed Sacrament today.
Faith opens the eyes.
Christ is our light this Advent.
Take-home resolution: Make a holy hour this First Friday or next week.
Dear friends, on this First Friday of December Isaiah promises a reversal: in a very little while Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field. On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see (Isaiah 29:17–18). The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord.
In the Gospel two blind men follow Jesus, crying out: have mercy on us, Son of David! It is a cry of faith; they call him by his messianic title. Jesus asks them: do you believe that I am able to do this? They say: yes, Lord. He touches their eyes and says: according to your faith let it be done to you (Matthew 9:27–29).
Jesus asks the same question of each of us this Advent: do you believe that I am able to do this? Able to heal your blindness, to change your heart, to restore your family, to forgive your sin?
There is a blindness worse than physical blindness: not seeing God's love, not seeing the needs of others, not seeing our own sins. The two blind men knew they were blind. Many of us do not.
On the First Friday we honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus. From that Heart flows the mercy the blind men begged for. The simplest prayer of the Church, Lord, have mercy, is their prayer.
Today, let us make their prayer ours. Let us name one blindness in our life and ask Jesus to touch it. If possible, let us go to confession and receive Holy Communion in honour of the Sacred Heart. And let us answer his question with faith: yes, Lord, I believe. Amen.
Children, two blind men asked Jesus for help and He opened their eyes. When you pray, believe that Jesus can help you!
Son of David, have mercy on me. Touch the eyes of my heart, increase my faith, and be my light and my salvation this Advent. Amen.
Isaiah promises a day when the deaf will hear and the blind will see. In Matthew two blind men follow Jesus through the street, calling him Son of David, and he asks them one question: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” The promise of the first reading meets a person in the second, and what it asks of the blind men is faith.
Setting.
Earlier in this chapter Isaiah has been severe. He told Jerusalem's leaders that they were blinded and that the prophetic word was to them like a sealed scroll (29:9–12), and that they honoured God with their lips while their hearts were far from him (29:13). Today's verses answer that darkness with a promise of reversal.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” (29:18)
The “scroll” picks up the sealed book of v. 11, which no one could read. Now even the deaf hear it. Isaiah is speaking of both the body and the understanding.
“The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.” (29:19)
Joy begins at the bottom of society. In the next verses the people who cheated them in the courts disappear.
“And those who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who grumble will accept instruction.” (29:24)
The end of the reading is a quiet miracle: minds and hearts healed. Opening the eyes is the easier part.
How the Church reads it.
When John the Baptist's messengers ask who he is, Jesus answers with Isaiah's signs: “the blind receive their sight” (Matthew 11:5). The Church reads these promises as fulfilled in him. His healings are messianic signs (CCC 549), and he opens the eyes of faith as well as the eyes of the body. Baptism came to be called “enlightenment” in the early Church (CCC 1216).
Setting.
Matthew 8–9 gathers ten deeds of power after the Sermon on the Mount. This story comes near the end of the series, just after the raising of the ruler's daughter. Soon Jesus will reply to John: “the blind receive their sight” (11:5). Matthew has a similar story later, again of two blind men, near Jericho (20:29–34).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, crying loudly, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”” (9:27)
How do blind men follow? By the sound of his voice and the crowd. That in itself is a picture of faith.
“When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”” (9:28)
Jesus does not stop in the street. He lets them come further, into the house, and he draws their trust into words.
“Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.”” (9:29)
This does not mean that faith itself is the power. The power is his touch; faith is the open door.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that this cry of the blind men, “Have mercy on us, Son of David”, is renewed in the traditional prayer known as the Jesus Prayer, and that Jesus hears the prayer of faith (CCC 2616). The signs of Jesus attest that the Father has sent him, and they invite belief in him (CCC 548). In an Advent liturgy, the cry “Lord, have mercy” at the start of Mass stands in the same line.
Why does Jesus tell them to keep silent, when he has healed them?
Matthew's phrase is strong: he “sternly ordered them” (9:30). “Son of David” could be heard as a political title, and Jesus would not be proclaimed in that sense. The Catechism says he accepted the title of Messiah with some reserve for this reason (CCC 439). His kingship would be shown fully only on the Cross. The two men's joy is easy to understand, but their disobedience is still disobedience.