Mk 11:27-33 By Whose Authority Do You Do These Things

In our first reading St. Jude tells us,
"Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit.
Keep yourselves in the love of God
and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
that leads to eternal life.
On those who waver, have mercy;
save others by snatching them out of the fire;
on others have mercy with fear..."

As we walk in faith, in prayer for help from the Holy Spirit, in Love with the Lord, and follow the precepts of the Christian life, we show mercy and love to others.  In the Gospel today the scribes and Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus in his teachings of love and mercy: those ways of healing.  They ask him by whose authority he does these things.  He tells them that he will give the answer if they can answer whether John's baptism was heavenly or divine.  In the end, they understand that Jesus' works come from the Father in Heaven, but cannot admit it.

Jesus' words and actions lead to eternal life.  He has given us the Spirit as our advocate to guide us toward that life.  May we always show love and mercy to others even in difficult times, and seek understanding and have compassion across cultures, seeking always to find Christ in others. 

Jn 16: 12-15 Holy Trinity Sunday

In catechism class recently we were discussing the Holy Spirit with a group of 2nd and 3rd graders.  We asked, "Can you see the Holy Spirit?"  They answered, "No."  "Can you feel the Holy Spirit?"  The kids took a little longer, and all but one child said no: one child said yes.  "Can you hear the Holy Spirit?"  There was a resounding "YES!"

How do we know that they Holy Spirit is with us?  The kids said that we had symbols to remind us where the Holy Spirit is.  They had been listening to Start a Fire by the band, Unspoken.  They said that the fire symbolized that excitement and energy that made them want to do good.  The wind shakes the trees and makes them move, so it was similar to the way the Spirit moves us.  When asked about the dove, they said it was how the Spirit brings us peace.  They were stuck on other symbols of the holy spirit, then someone shouted out, a heart...the Holy Spirit is love. 

In today's Gospel we hear of Jesus telling us that the Holy Spirit is the advocate that the Father will send, and like him, the Spirit speaks not his own words, but the Father's.  They are united as described by Christ's words.  They work for a common cause within our lives and within our hearts to lead us to Heaven to be united with them.  May the blessed Trinity guide us always and be with us to the end of our days.  Amen. 

John 14:6-14 ..so that the Father may be glorified..

There is something really beautiful in everything that Christ does, and that is that he continuously tells us, it is not for him or his sake that he asks us to do things, but for our Father in Heaven.  Jesus is so willing to give completely of himself.  It reminds me of when he told the Apostles that, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down his life for his friends." (Jn 1513)  Jesus lets us know that his words and works are from the Father.  This is how he is in the Father and the Father in him.  Thus they become one. 

"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father."

Jesus promised to send the Advocate and with the help of this Holy Spirit send by the Father in Christ Jesus' name, we will have great power to do His will.   It is an incredible amazing thing.  Hard to be true, yet it is.  How does it relate to our own life?

A brother who has sought God in nearly every religion throughout his life looks at my faith and asks, how can you believe?  Why can't I quite turn the question around and ask, why don't you believe? In today's reading Philip asks Jesus to explicitly show everyone the Father as proof.  Thomas the Apstle is with them.  Philip and Thomas portray those doubts and uncertainties we all have.  This is why Jesus has already challenged Thomas to put his fingers into the wound marks.  Now he explains explicity how he and the Father are one, how what he does glorifies the Father, and how we are to be united with him in following him in his works to also glorify the Father: to give our whole selves to God.  Christ died for our sins, that he could raise us up with himself for the honor and glory of God.  Alleluia!

John 15:26-16:4 A Feast of St. Athanasius

Can we testify to the Lord?  Are we willing to share our faith with others through word and deed?  In working with Confirmanti on their Confirmation retreat they were asked, "What comes next?  Are you going to keep practicing your faith, or are you going to stop attending church and do other things?"  The kids were kind of shocked by the question.  They had the choice??  Then they started wondering what the catch was.  They were in charge of their faith, not their parents.  They were beginning to understand. 

As newly confirmed people, how did they plan on nurturing their faith?  This took more discussion and self reflection.  What did they need to continue to grow spiritually?  How could they grow spiritually?  In the course of discussion forgiveness came-up.  Different types of situations needed deeper forgiveness, some situations, like murder, they were unsure that they could ever forgive.  St. Paul was mentioned and the great forgiveness that Ananias had only through the help of the Holy Spirit in order to forgive Paul and to heal him.  The Holy Spirit, our Advocate, our Helper, is needed daily in inspiring us to love and forgive and heal.  Wow, sounds like Christ.  The Spirit is here to help us carry on Christ's work. 

In their written reflections, how did they decide they could be nourished in their faith?  By continuing to receive Christ in the Eucharist and Gospels at mass; through sharing their faith with others, especially their younger siblings and to those random strangers who asked them questions about their faith, they would try their best; they would continue to honor their parents and families with love; they would try to live their lives as good people and in doing so, hopefully the Spirit would walk with them and they could be a light to others.  They are a great group of kids.  Our kids are the future of our church.  May God bless them and guide them on right paths. Amen.

John 14:23-29 The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you

Jesus is preparing to depart.  He tells them, "The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you."

It is difficult to say good-bye to family and friends when they have come for a long visit and have to depart for their own homes.  It is even more difficult when someone dies and we long and yearn for one more touch, one more word.  It is these combined that Jesus prepares us.  We should not despair not become despondent though, for the Father will send us the Advocate in Christ Jesus' name.  It is the same Advocate whom the Father sent at Christ's baptism to help him in his ministry and prepare for his death and Resurrection into glory: It is the third person in our Triune God, the Holy Spirit. 

It is suggested that we rejoice for Christ as he returns to his home in heaven and paves the way for us to follow.  We should not live in this world, but be always ready for the next.  Our greatest joys and triumphs here in this world are pale in comparison as to what will come, and although they are joyful, it their shadow form, dont' they resemble suffering when compared to the joy of heaven?  We have much to look forward to.  We have much to prepare for.

In working with Confirmanti we asked them to reflect on what comes next for them after they receive their Sacrament of Confirmation.  They were uncertain and thought they may a little lost.  They are where the Apostles were as Jesus was preparing to depart.  However, they are hopeful because they know the Spirit will descend upon them and direct them as it does all of us to continue to share the Good News.

Mark 16:15-20 Feast of St. Mark

As Author of the 2^nd Gospel, he sas sometimes called John, or John Mark.  His mother, Mary, owned a house in Jerusalem.  Some scholars believe that was the place where the dinner of Holy Thursday took place, when Christ initiated the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Spirit descended upon them.  It was this house where Mark lived that was described in Acts of the Apostles that the Christians assembled during the persecutions of Herod Agrippa.  It was to his house that Peter came when he was miraculously released from prison.

It is believed that Peter himself baptized Mark, whom he referred to as his spiritual son.  Mark was Paul’s companion when Paul went to Antioch and Perga on Paul’s first missionary voyage. It is believed that Mark was the cousin of Barnabas, with whom he travelled to Cypress to preach while Paul and Silas went on Paul’s 2^nd missionary journey.  When Paul was imprisoned in Rome, it was Mark, Paul writes in the letter to the Colossians, who was his companion and comfort.  In letters from Peter, he tacked into them a hello from Mark to the Jewish Christians in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.  Mark was that well known throughout the area.

In Christian literature and art, St. Mark is often depicted as a lion, or esp. a winged lion, also the symbol of the city of Venice.  In his Gospels, Mark aimed to show the divinity of Christ in a way similar to how Peter argued.  Today we read from the Gospel of Mark.  We hear the gloriousness of Christ:

"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.”

"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.

Mark encourages us to faith as strong and powerful as a lion.  Truly he tells us, Jesus is the Christ, God made manifest. Praise be to God, Alleluia!

John 6:44-51 Come to Me

In today's first reading, God the Father called this eunuch to himself, and God the Holy Spirit sought to impart the teachings of the Son so that that this man, through Philip, might come to be saved through him. 

Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him up on the last day…They shall all be taught by God.  Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me…Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”  Jesus further reminds us, “I am the bread of life…and the bread that I give is my Flesh for the life of the world.” 

St. Tomas a Kempis reminds us, “These are your words, O Christ, the everlasting Truth.  Because they are yours and true, they are all thankfully and faithfully received by me.  They are yours and you have pronounced them; and they are mine also because you have spoken them for my salvation.”  (Imitation of Christ: Book 3, Ch 1 On Receiving Holy Communion)  Our Lord is the bread of heaven, come to nourish us, heal us, and lead us out of the slavery of sin, to the freedom of salvation in him, Christ the Lord.  St. Paul reminds us, “Christ died for all: that those who live may live no longer in themselves, but for him, who died for all and is risen, alleluia.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)     

John 3:16-21 Salvation not Judgement

In today's reading although Jesus is still with Nicodemus, our Gospel writer almost seems to be reflecting of Jesus's mission and purpose for clarification.  "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life."  Jn 3:16 

The Son is co-equal to the Father as part of the Holy Trinity.  As the only-begotten Son, he is eternally loved.  So are we because of the Father loves us enough to send us his Son to die for us that we might have eternal life. 

There is nothing that can hold back God's love for us.  Even in our first reading for today God sends his angels to free the disciples of the Son so that they can continue to teach the multitudes about His infinite love and mercy. 

John 20:19-31 Divine Mercy Sunday

"Peace be wish you," Jesus says as he appears to the disciples within the locked room.  He shows them his hands and side, proof of his death and of his Resurrection.  He says to them again, "Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I have sent you."  He breathed on them (the imparting of the Holy Spirit) and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

This is the Mercy of God.  Our Lord and Savior came to die for the salvation of mankind.  Through the power vested through him, those whom he specially appointed those that followed after him, whom we call priests, have this power of life or death within their grasp: the power to forgive sins and lead us to everlasting life, or to allow the person to retain the sins that belong to death.  They are sent out, as Christ Jesus tells us, with the power of the Holy Spirit, to heal us and bring us life.  We are called to meet Christ within them to be healed through that Merciful give of the Sacrament of Reconcilliation.  Let us welcome God's gift of Divine Love and Mercy at each opportunity, and spend time today giving thanks to our Merciful Lord.  Amen.

John 21: 1-14 Have you caught anything to eat?

Yesterday I mentioned a little of Christ Jesus' humor.  Today in the Gospel, the Risen Christ stands upon the shore and calls out to a boat of adult male fishermen, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?"  I wonder how annoyed they were at first, or if they thought this guy was crazy, especially when he next told them to throw their nets over the other side of the boat.   Here's the catch, they threw their nets on the right side of the boat like the guy on shore said, and they caught so many fish, they nearly couldn't haul it in.  That was when John recognized the Lord and dove into the deep water to be the first to reach Christ on the shore. 

Once all together, the Lord feeds and nourishes them for their trouble and exertions in reaching him when he called out to them.  That is the cool thing about the God, he is always the initiation, the first mover, whether as God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit, and then he waits for us to respond, and join into a communion with him.  This Easter season, we have a Risen Lord encouraging us to repent and live do that we might live in him.  How are we responding to that call?

John 20:11-18 Invitation into the New Creation

Today’s Gospel is one about grief and love.  “Love is as strong as Death, longing as fierce as Sheol, its arrows are arrows of fire, flames of the divine.” (Eccl. 8:6)  Mary did not come to the tomb to find the risen Savior.  From yesterday’s reading we know that she came to anoint the body of a man they all loved dearly with the precious oils and fragrant spices, mixed with their tears.  Mary is compelled by love to touch Him once more, even if he is dead, as she thinks. 

But the tomb is empty and she is denied even that one little pleasure of reaching out one last time in love.  She is heartbroken.  “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” 

Within this Gospel in the passage before today’s reading Mary has already gone and alerted the Apostles that Jesus’ body is gone.  They have come to see for themselves, and left again.  Mary Magdalene remains, as if still searching for her love.  Desperate, she looks one last time into the tomb.

The Easter gospel brings comfort to the grieving.  As in the original garden when sin and death were introduced into the world, God promised a savior that would come to triumph over these things out of his great love for us.  To herald this savior Mary, held by her grief and love for the one who has saved her from her sins, lingers peering again into the tomb.  Behold, there are two angels one where the head would be, the other where the feet had lain with a space between them, as if it were for God himself; just like the Ark of the Covenant, a new covenant, which Christ came to establish anew with us through God’s infinite love and mercy.

In Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son, is divine love become manifest.  In the garden Mary encounters the transfigured glorious Christ Jesus, our new Adam. In the midst of sorrow and grief arises joy in the new Creation.  When the angels and Jesus ask, “Woman, why are you weeping?”  That is our cue that the Lord is with us in his glory, we should rejoice and be glad.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of this new creation.  Peter reminds us today, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.“ Like Mary Magdalene, let us let the Spirit help us to overcome the bonds of the old creation and enter more fully this new creation that has been given to us through the Resurrection.  Amen.

John 5: 17-30 The Relationship Between Father and Son

In small towns like mine there is a plethora of family businesses.  It is not unusual to see three and sometimes four generations gathered at the business, or taking work home to share together there.  Father and sons, mother and daughters, or any combinations thereof work together, blending their roles, but still separate in who they are; the direction coming from the father commonly with the advice of the son/daughter considered when making decisions for the business.  There is a great deal of honor for the parents, for their knowledge, for their love, for their drive and sense of hard work.  There is a great sense of community within these families and their respective businesses. The community becomes the focus, but when an individual within it suffers or has difficulty, they community lifts them up with great love and tenderness. Employees from outside the family are commonly adopted into them through shared time and experience and invited to all family functions and receive the same care and concern as family members working for the business.   It is really a beautiful thing to witness.  Not all family businesses run like this, but the successful ones in the local area do.  The customers receive and feel the solidarity and are drawn to it.

In today's Gospel Jesus describes his relationship to the Father.  He tells us that the Father has taught him many things and that he does what his Father does: he heals the sick, he raises the dead, he restores life.  However, Jesus admits that he, although he and his Father share commonalities in their work and are in communion with each other, he is different from the Father.  "The Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing." The Son needs to be taught by the Father.  The Father can do so many more things than we can even dream.  The Father has also designated specific things to the Son and honors his son by allowing the Son only to make those decisions, "Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father."

The Father and the Son are both God, just as is the Holy Spirit.  They are the Holy Trinity, the triune God, but distinct from each other at the same time.  For the first time Jesus open speaks of himself as the Son, and as the Jews point out, that makes him equal to the Father.  That is contrary to what they know.  Jesus reminds them that he isn't there to do what they or he want, but that it is always the Father's will that surpasses not only ours, but also the Son's will.  We will hear this again in the readings soon.  Today, this week, through the end of Lent, what do you hear as God's will for you?

 

Reflection Mt 25: 31-46 The Face of God Is in Our Brother

“You shall not bear hatred in your heart for your brother.” The Lord commands through Moses.  How many times have we each felt someone’s wrath, annoyance toward us, or just that look that left us crushed?  When we acknowledge how we feel, then suddenly we know it is wrong to hate others.  Perhaps our anger will melt into compassion and understanding especially when we recall in today’s Gospel that Jesus reminds us that he is those people that we help, that we give encouragement; he is within the hungry, the thirsty and the poor.  Mother Theresa called this Jesus’ “distressing disguise of the poor” when he appeared to her in the form of those who needed help. 

Christ is in each of us.  Do you recall Jesus told us that he would send us the Paraclete to help us discern what we must do to continue on the Way?  Jesus also told us “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Jn 14:15) And what was his command?  “Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you should love one another.” (Jn 13:34)  Isn’t that what Jesus is reiterating today when he tells us, “I was hungry and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me,” explaining that whenever the disciples or we ‘do it for the least brothers of mine, you did it for me.” (Mt 25:35-36, 40)  Let us be certain that when we give, we give to Christ and for Christ in whatever form we meet him with charitable hearts that preserves the dignity of our brethren for our love of God.  Amen.

Luke 4:1-13 Temptation in the Desert

"Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days..."

These lines remind us of Jesus' baptism at the Jordan when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and the Voice of God the Father was heard saying, "This is my son in whom I am well pleased."  The Spirit then brings him to the desert where he is tempted. 

We are all temped every one of us, even once we are baptized.  We are given the fruits of the Spirit to help us in our life's journeys.  What are these gifts from God that we should be aware of and be comfortable employing in face of temptations and life's troubles?  They are wisdom, understanding, fortitude, counsel, knowledge, piety, and fear/awe of the Lord.  These gifts can help us so much.  They helped Jesus in the temptations in the desert.  These gifts of the Holy Spirit helped to lead Jesus our of the desert.  They help us too in our tough times.  When we lose our pride and ask God for help, that is when we can be led by the Spirit the best. 

We are called to conversion and our Lenten journey should help us there.  Let the Spirit guide you in his love and mercy, through acts of kindness and charity toward others. 

Luke 5: 27-32 Calling of Levi

for today's reading: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021316.cfm

In today's reading Jesus calls Levi and the other tax collectors to follow him.  Jesus is showing us that we can be called, every one of us, to follow him.  It doesn't matter if we are sinners or saints, the door to the Father's banquet is open to each of us.  It is the Father's love that calls us. 

The scribes and Pharisees are adherents to the law, but the laws have become and end to themselves.  Jesus is here to offer us a new covenant made the Father's love and through the Holy Spirit.  Are we ready to accept the Lord's invitation to follow him no matter what others may say or think about us?  Are we ready to have our eyes focused solely on him?  Are we ready to embrace the call to be saints who wear jeans, chew bubble gum, and drink soda and eat fries?  Everyone is called. 

Luke 2:22-40 Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

for today's readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020216.cfm)

Today's readings speak of the messenger(s) that come before the Lord proclaiming him to the people. Who instructs Simeon to act out as the prophet?  Or even Anna to know and announce that here is the Christ child?  It is the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit animates both of them.  Simeon, who is promised that he would behold the virgin with the Christ Child before he dies, utters a prayer, in Latin called the Nunc Dimittis.  (This is the prayer used at the end of compline, or the evening prayer for the Liturgy of the Hours.)

Simeon is like Elizabeth and Zachary, the family of the Virgin Mary.  He is pious, aged, and looking for the fulfillment of God's promises to the people of Israel.  It is through the grace of God that Simeon comes to know and welcome the Lord to the temple and acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, the Comforter of the people, the king chosen by God to reign over his people.  The Holy Spirit is offering hope as well as a light into the divine mystery of God made manifest as our Savior.  Through Simeon gives a more complete picture of the Old Testament predictions of the Messiah.  Anna too through her charisms of the Holy Spirit us the same idea, that here indeed is the Messiah come to fulfill the prophesies of the Old Testament.  She praises God and proclaims the infant to those who longed for the redemption of Jerusalem.  Anna and Simeon are witnesses to the Truth, prophets of God proclaiming, exhorting, and comforting the people awaiting the Messiah.   They represent the link between the Old Covenant and the celebration of the New Covenant made through Christ.

Mt 2:1-12 Feast of the Epiphany

"...Behold the magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem."  What a beautiful story of the magi arriving to adore the Christ child.  What motived them?  Prayer comes from that first initiation from God alone.  He calls us closer to himself, into communion with himself, into prayer.  So this calling of the magi to come to adore the newborn King, that was something that only God could have put into their hearts through the grace of the Holy Spirit to walk that faith journey, through difficulties, through foreign lands, to search for the Child, to not lose faith when they learned the child was not of Herod's line, but of a royalty far deeper.  They were not the Jews, but they recognized God made manifest.  God had manifested himself to all through his birth, but now He manifests himself as a savior to all human kind through these Gentiles. 

Indeed St. Paul reminds us that Christ came for people of all races, all backgrounds, all beliefs.  Yes, there will always be those who choose not to accept Christ and his gift.  There are those who will ridicule and persecute the followers of Christ.  However, it is our duty to recognize the face of God in all whom we encounter.  ALL are called to the Table of Plenty.  It is God who calls us, not ourselves, not a special few who give us the invitation, It is God and God alone who first imparts that call within our hearts and creates that desire to know Him.  May we strive to find God in each other today and show Him love. 

Luke 2:36-40 The Prophetess Anna

In this presentation story following the reception of the Christ Child by Simeon, we meet Anna who also receives the Child and proclaims him to the world.  It is argued by some the Simeon and Anna are prophets of the Old Testament representing all of the Jewish people of the Old Covenant waiting for the redeemer.  With the reception of the Christ Child, they are accepting and recognizing the Savior and proclaiming him to the world. 

Women often enjoy holding babies and seeing the hope and possibility that could come from the child, recognizing the child as a gift from God.  Here Anna does not do this.  She recognizes not the gift from God, but God himself.  How much more the potential this Child in her arms!  The One who has been long awaited.  How could she not be excited?  As one who as received Christ she, like Simeon, cannot but share Him with the world.  Isn't it similar to what we are called to do when we receive Christ within the Eucharist?  Anna is a Hebrew word that means 'grace'.  How fitting then that she is given the grace of God to be his messenger to proclaim Him, to recognize Him, to receive Him, and to love Him? 

And the Holy Family?  They fulfill the prescriptions of the Law and return home where the child grows in wisdom and strength with "the Lord's favor upon him."  It is Jesus' time for quiet growth before the Lord calls him to his vocation.  We are each called to a vocation.  We see one of Anna's vocations within today's reading.  We hear that Joseph and Mary were called to obedience in the Law.  What are you being called forth to do today that will grow God's kingdom within and around you?

Luke 3:10-18 Gaudete Sunday

Rejoice in the Lord always!  (Gaudete in Domino semper)

In today's readings the crowds are asking John the Baptist what they should do.  They thought because of his wisdom and because he baptized people, that possibly here was the long awaited Christ.  John tells them how they are to live, as justly, with concern for each other, and to be satisfied.  He assures them, no he is not the Christ.  That he merely baptizes with water, but the one coming after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire; that Christ will gather the wheat and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. 

John is preparing the way for the Lord.  He is teaching the people how they must live to prepare for Christ.  He is telling them of God's loving mercy that those who follow in the way of the Lord will by caught up by Him and kept.  They will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  The prophet Zephaniah reminds us that in this baptism of Christ, God rejoices over us and renews us in his love.  How can we not be filled with excitement and joy at this?  The path to that baptism is the journey of love through Christ our Lord. 

Matthew 9:27-31

In today's Gospel two blind men are following Jesus begging for his mercy and pity.  Jesus asks them, "Do you believe that I can do this?"

This Advent season we are preparing ourselves to receive Christ as the hope of the world.  Do we believe that he can do this?  Faith is a gift of God the Father through the Holy Spirit.  Christ Jesus stands knocking at the door of our hearts ready to lead us through the gates of eternal life should we seek him.  For those who follow Jesus as the blind men did, seeking to see the eternal Kingdom, the Lord will reveal it "according to your faith."  For these men, their eyes were opened. 

Jesus warns them, "See that no one knows about this."  We are told that "they went our and spread the word of him through all the land."   Did they miss the point?  When we receive a gift, do we focus solely on the gift, or the giver?  Perhaps that is Jesus is really warning of overlooking the One, The Father in Heaven, who has given them the ability to see and to attain the Kingdom and its eternal life, by instead focusing on the fact that Jesus has restored their sight.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Let us focus on that as we prepare to meet the coming of Christ this Christmas.