Friday, December 4, 2026 — Friday of the First Week of Advent
According to your faith
Matthew 9:27-31
Readings of the day: Isaiah 29:17-24; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14; Matthew 9:27-31.
The Gospel
As Jesus passes by, two blind men follow him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” When he enters the house, they come to him, and he asks, “Do you believe that I can do this?” They answer, “Yes, Lord.” He touches their eyes and says, “Let it be done for you according to your faith,” and their eyes are opened. He warns them sternly to tell no one, but they go out and spread word of him through all that land.
Reflection
The two blind men cannot see, yet they believe by hearing alone, and St. John Chrysostom calls this a charge against those who had sight and would not believe the miracles done before them. Their faith is put to proof in the house: “Do you believe that I can do this?” They answer, “Yes, Lord,” and he touches their eyes: “According to your faith be it unto you.” Chrysostom notes that they no longer call him Son of David only, but confess his dominion. Then he charges them to tell no one, and St. Jerome sees why: the Lord, from humility, shuns the fame of his glorious works, while they, from gratitude, cannot be silent about so great a benefit. St. Gregory draws the rule for us: our good deeds should be hidden by design, and published only of compulsion, for the profit of others.
From the Fathers
“Here is no small charge against the Jews, that these men, having lost their sight, yet believe by means of their hearing only; while they who had sight, would not believe the miracles that were done.”
— St. John Chrysostom, Homily 32 on Matthew, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 9:27–31
“The Lord from humility shunning the fame of His glorious works, gave them this charge, and they from gratitude cannot be silent respecting so great benefit.”
— St. Jerome, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 9:27–31
Saint of the day
Saint John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church (c. 675–749). Born in Damascus, he left a high office at the caliph’s court to become a monk and priest at the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem. He defended the veneration of sacred images against the iconoclast emperors, and Pope Leo XIII named him a Doctor of the Church in 1890.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 179). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Matthew 9:27–31, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).