23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
In today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 35, verse 4-7a, God tells the Israelites that he will come with vindication and with divine recompense to save them. That the ears of the deaf will be cleared; and the tongue of the dumb will sing. In the gospel reading, from the holy Gospel according to Mark, chapter 7, verse 31-37, we heard of how Jesus cured a man who was both deaf and mute by putting his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”—that is, “Be opened!”— And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.
This miracle of Jesus is of great importance and significance to us Catholic Christians that is why it is commemorated in the rites of Baptism when the priest touches the ears and mouth of the child with his thumb, saying: “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.” And everyone responds, ‘Amen.’ From this, we can see why this miracle of Jesus in healing the deaf and mute man is so important and powerful for us. This miracle is important and powerful for us because it reminds us of our baptismal call and duty as disciples of Christ to listen to and to receive the word of God proclaimed to us, and to go out and proclaim the word of God we have received and accepted to the whole world. It is a well known fact that many of us, if not most of us are spiritually deaf and mute. Yes we are spiritually deaf and mute. We are spiritually deaf to listening to God’s words proclaimed and explained to us. We are spiritually deaf to listening to, acknowledging and accepting the teachings, truths and doctrines of the Catholic Church. We are spiritually deaf to the voice of God, that is the voice of love, the voice of reason, the voice of truth, of compassion, of humility, of justice, and of charity. We are spiritually deaf to the cries of the poor, the lonely, the troubled, the worried, the helpless, the sick, the homeless, the elderly, the abused, the refugees, and the rejected.
We are spiritually mute when we fail to speak out about our faith, and about our Catholic Church. We are spiritually mute when we fail to speak up about our beliefs, our Catholic teachings and doctrines. We are spiritually mute when we fail to condemn the injustices in our country and society like racism, discrimination, sexism, gun violence, wars etc. We are spiritually mute when we refuse to speak up for the respect of human life from conception to natural death, for the innocent, for the marginalized, for the impoverished, for the immigrants etc.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do we truly listen to, receive and acknowledge the word of God proclaimed and explained to us at Mass? Do we really proclaim God’s word that we have listened to, received, acknowledged and accepted to the world as Jesus commanded us to? It is time to be healed of our spiritual deafness and muteness, so let sincerely listen to God’s word proclaimed to us. Let us acknowledge and receive God’s word proclaimed and explained to us. Then let us go out and proclaim God’s word and our faith in Him to the world.
