Isaiah 29:17-24 / Matthew 9:27-31
It is often said that actions speak louder than words, and we will certainly affirm that.
Action expresses priorities and action changes things. So in the end, well done is better than well said.
But most of the time, after all that is said and done, more often than not, more is said than done.
Words may inspire, but action creates change. So as we talk, so we must act; as we say, so we must show; as we promise, so we must prove.
For the two blind men in the gospel, we may not think much about them shouting after Jesus to take pity on them. In fact it seems that Jesus did not respond until after they had followed Him all the way to the house.
Just what made them act with such perseverance and determination?
It is said that what will get us to act comes from one or even all of these reasons: fear, pain, joy and hope.
The two blind men could have acted out of pain and hope. They know the pain of blindness, but they could also "see" that there can be some hope in Jesus.
And so what about us? Why do we keep coming to Church and seeking Jesus? Well, it could be out of pain, or fear, or out of joy and hope.
For those of us who have the pain of a physical illness or disease, we seek out Jesus for healing or at least to have the strength to bear the pain.
Physical pain there will be, and we can cope with the help of medication. What is more difficult is the pain of fear. So what is this pain of fear?
It is as how the 1st reading puts it - those who gossip to incriminate others, those who try to trip the arbitrator and get the upright man's case dismissed for groundless reasons.
Oh yes, there are such people, we know who they are, and they are indeed our fear and our pain.
Oh yes we will complain about them, but after all the complaining, what is the next course of action?
Certainly we don't want to be like them, and we will pray that God will spare us from such malicious people.
Yet we have also come to Jesus with a heart of hope. Again as the 1st reading puts it - the lowly will rejoice, the poor will exult, for tyrants shall be no more, and scoffers vanish.
Such must be our hope in Jesus as we take refuge in His Sacred Heart. And more than that, Jesus wants us to experience the joy of seeing others repent and turn to God.
And that's why we come for the 1st Friday Mass and Devotion to the Sacred Heart. We do reparation for our sins and we do expiation for the sins of others for their conversion, because their salvation is our concern and Jesus wants no one to be lost.
Yes, we act desperately out of pain or fear, but we must also act with conviction out of hope and with joy.
So we are here to pray, it is our act of faith, and may Jesus take our prayers into His Sacred Heart, so that we can see the hope and joy even in the midst of pain and fear.