Memorial of Saint Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the Church
(Isaiah 29:17-24; Matthew 9:27-31)
Saint Ambrose was not raised a Catholic. Rather his father belonged to the governing class of Roman citizenry which afforded Ambrose a classical education. Ambrose joined the catechumenate in Milan where he was provincial governor. He chose to look from the perspective of faith which brought his intellectual formation to completion. The gospel today portrays Jesus as fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy of enabling sight in the root sense of the word.
Isaiah prophesizes that in the fullness of time blind persons like Helen Keller would be able to see flowers and butterflies. Jesus is able to provide that kind of blessing. But his cure does not stop there as if seeing beautiful things were all that humans desire. More importantly, Jesus confirms the faith of the blind men in him as Lord. This gift sees them past all the challenges on life on the road to salvation.
We believe in order to see. That is, we accept the truths of faith so that we can have a rightful understanding of the world. We need not fear that faith conflicts with science. They cover different realms and are compatible. Belief even aids research as it insures that investigation will serve humanity.
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