A Reflection for Friday of the First Week of Advent
Find today’s readings here.
As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out,
“Son of David, have pity on us!”
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.”
And their eyes were opened.
Jesus warned them sternly,
“See that no one knows about this.”
But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.(Mt 9:27-31)
How often do we hear good news on the news?
It may not seem like an encouraging era to be alive in the world. One of the downsides of being so globally connected is that we are constantly inundated with the vastness of human complexity. All we need to do is look at our phones and see that somewhere, perhaps in our own country or on the other side of the world, there is immense suffering. It might be the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, each conflict with no end in sight and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. It might be the humanitarian crises in South Sudan, Congo or any of the other droughts or famines throughout the developing world. It might be closer to home, where we see incidents wrought from racism, homophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment, and sometimes experience disappointment with democratic processes.
Hope is hard to find in such uncertain times.
Yet this can be something of an illusion. Here’s a classic truism: There is no better time to be alive than the present. The world may seem to be on a collision course towards disaster at any given moment, but there is much more good being done in the world than there ever has been in the entire history of humanity.
At any given time, great scientific minds are inventing everything from prosthetic limbs for amputees to treatments to help the blind see. Medical researchers are always actively at work, treating the sick and seeking cures for their illnesses. Though far from ideal, there are still many lawmakers and activists – particularly at the local level – who have communities’ best interests at heart.
Social media is responsible for our lack of attention to these things. Nothing drives screen time and engagement more than bad news. It is our natural inclination to pay attention to the negative; we sometimes live to worry. But that does not mean that the bad removes the good, especially at the human level. One may worry about one’s leaders and have justified anxiety about where exactly their government is going. But even in the darkest chapters of human history, hope lived – because at a basic level, there were always people willing to do good.
Remember, centuries ago, people died of now easily-preventable illnesses. Soldiers were thrown into the meat grinder of war without care for their injuries or their trauma. Human beings were kept as slaves to serve at the whims of the rich and powerful. Many of these things are still true, but “the slow boring of hard boards,” to quote Max Weber, tends to bring about greater justice.
Take some inspiration from the two blind men in today’s Gospel reading. Unlike doomsayers, of which there are too many, they focused on the good (even if they did do so against Jesus’ wishes). The pair were so ecstatic about their good fortune and the rewards of their faith that they spread the good news. Do that today. The next time you feel tempted to bemoan the bad, remember that you have the capacity to do good and to publicize the good. As long as there is one person doing good in the world, as long as there is someone living morally, there is always hope to be found, even in the most trying times.
Get to know Kevin Christopher Robles
Do you have any favorite holiday recipes? (Bonus points if you share the recipe here!)
My mother has an absolutely amazing spaghetti recipe that I have hitherto failed to replicate due to her insistence on not sharing the full details with me. All I know is that the meat sauce is sourced from a combination of crushed tomatoes and banana ketchup, as well as a generous amount of sugar. (A fair warning that this is by no means a healthy recipe.) Make sure that the noodles you pick out are thick and liberally pour the meat sauce.
Do you have any seasonal reading or movie recommendations?
I will take this moment to highlight two of my favorite movies, both of which are technically not Christmas films but take place during and around the holidays: “You’ve Got Mail” and “Die Hard.” The former takes place in New York and is a romantic comedy set during the dot-com era, originally based on the play “Parfumerie” by Hungarian playwright Miklós László. The latter is an action movie about an NYPD cop visiting his estranged wife at her job in L.A. for their annual Christmas party, but winds up having to deal with terrorists when they take his wife and her coworkers hostage. Both are about the Christmas spirit, just in very different ways.
What is your favorite Advent/Christmas hymn?
Would it be strange to say “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues? It sums up the holiday season like no other song I know. If that might be a bit too modern for one’s taste, then I’d probably have to go with “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
