Catechism Links [1]
CCC 1503-1505:
Christ the Physician
CCC 1151-1152:
signs used by Christ; sacramental signs
CCC 270-271:
the mercy of God
 |
| “Jesus Heals the Deaf Man” by Alexandre Bida, 1850’s |
Thus says the LORD:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 35:4-7a
This
joyous outburst from the Prophet looks forward to the restoration of those
exiled (similar in tone to Isaiah 40:1:11). The oracle sees the time of salvation marked
by events traditionally associated with the predicted arrival of the
Messiah. The passage is quoted or
paraphrased in both St. Matthew’s Gospel at Matthew 11:5ff and in St. Mark’s Gospel at Mark 7:37
in both cases seeing in the oracle proof of messianic fulfillment in Jesus.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
R. (1b) Praise the Lord,
my soul!
or:
Alleluia.
The God
of Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures
justice for the oppressed,
gives
food to the hungry.
The LORD
sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord,
my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD
gives sight to the blind;
the LORD
raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD
loves the just;
the LORD
protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord,
my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The
fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the
way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD
shall reign forever;
your
God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord,
my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
In this hymn of praise we find the
historical view of God’s attributes as envisioned by the Hebrew people. The psalmist catalogues the mercy of God’s
salvation (sight to the blind, raises those who were bowed down (the oppressed)) using imagery borrowed by the Prophets
and much later by Gospel authors as well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading II: James 2:1-5
My
brothers and sisters, show no partiality
as you
adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a
man with gold rings and fine clothes
comes
into your assembly,
and a
poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,
and you
pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes
and say,
“Sit here, please, ”
while
you say to the poor one, “Stand there, ” or “Sit at my feet, ”
have you
not made distinctions among yourselves
and
become judges with evil designs?
Listen,
my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not
God choose those who are poor in the world
to be
rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
that he
promised to those who love him?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jas 2:1-5
In these verses the author warns
the Christian community not to discriminate or to show favoritism based upon
social status. This kind of behavior, we
are told, violates God’s law and is an affront to all the values for which Lord
Jesus stands. The Apostle also reminds
the community that the poor and marginalized receive great rewards in God’s
Kingdom.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 7:31-37
Again
Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went
by way of Sidon to the Sea
of Galilee ,
into the
district of the Decapolis .
And
people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and
begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took
him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put
his finger into the man’s ears
and,
spitting, touched his tongue;
then he
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.
He
ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the
more he ordered them not to,
the more
they proclaimed it.
They
were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has
done all things well.
He makes
the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 7:31-37
Returning from his encounter with the Syrophoenician woman,
the Lord now heals the deaf mute. This action, especially the wording of the
final quote; (“He has done all things well, he makes the deaf hear and the
mute speak.”) which is a paraphrase from Isaiah 35:5-6, demonstrates
the fulfillment of prophecy.
The Lord’s actions are sacramental in nature. That is they
accomplish what they signify. As the Lord takes the man aside, he puts his
fingers into the man’s mouth and ears. He then sighs or groans looking
heavenward, demonstrating his intimate relationship to the father rather than
in prayer, and says, “ephphetha!” or “be opened.
This passage has two unusual characteristics. First, the
Lord takes the man aside, in private, implying something private was offered by
the Messiah. Next, after his cure was affected he tells the man not to tell
anyone but not only does the man continue to do so but proclaims it. We are
given the feel that the event taking place is special in revelation, a new creation
(cf Genesis 1:31).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homily:
When I was seven or eight years old, my family moved from
Gaylord, Michigan to Three Rivers, Michigan. Taking advantage of the benefits
that come with being part of a larger town, I embarked upon my short and
un-illustrious career in Baseball. You
see, Three Rivers had a “Little League” program. I was small for my age and in spite of my
father’s best efforts, I was always afraid of being hit by a pitched ball. As a consequence my batting stance was
hunched over, making the “strike zone” as small as possible and, once the ball
was in the air, my eyes were generally closed, as if in prayer (which may have
been somewhat prophetic). Oh, once in a
while I would take a flailing attempt at hitting the ball, more out of
self-defense than any athletic exercise.
I may have even connected once in a while, surprising everyone, myself
included.
Then one day, I think I was about ten or eleven came the day
when I opened my eyes while I was in the batter’s box and realized I could see
the ball coming and actually swing at it with accuracy. It was remarkable; I literally could not believe
my eyes. I had the most prodigious day
of my young life, hitting two doubles and a triple. I still believe my father does not think I
really did that. He would come to all of
the games I played in but this one was during working hours so he was not
there. Also, it was the last game I ever
played in. We moved shortly after to
Adrian, Michigan and I never played organized baseball again. But that one game is burned into my
memory.
I can still see, in my mind’s eye, that ball coming toward
me, like it was frozen in time. And
whenever I read the passage we just heard from Gospel from St. Mark, I remember
that day. For me it was “Ephphatha!”
Although we will probably not remember it, the first time
the word “Ephphatha” was used in our
hearing was at our own Baptism. There is
a wonderful little prayer said by the celebrant toward the end of the Baptismal
rite. While touching the ears and lips
of the one being baptized he prays:
“The Lord Jesus made the deaf to hear and the mute to
speak. May he soon touch your ears to
receive his word and your lips to proclaim his faith, to the praise and Glory
of God the Father. Amen.”
It is a gift – the Ephphatha;
a profound change in character resulting from the infusion of the Holy Spirit
which takes place in the Baptismal bath.
Since I mention this gift and since I already told one
little anecdote from my childhood, I’ll tell one more. When I was in middle school, my grandmother,
whom I loved dearly, gave me a sweater for Christmas one year (in spite of the
fact that she had two sons of her own and should have known better.) I promptly
put it in a drawer and forgot about it until the next winter when I needed a
sweater for sledding and, since it would be covered up by my coat anyway, I
didn’t need to worry about my friends making fun of the reindeer that pranced
around the waist. To my amazement, the
sweater no longer fit and it had holes in it (moths – for the younger set it
was made of wool, a natural fabric made from the hair of sheep and moth larvae
eat it) and was useless. Gifts can be
like that. If they are not used they can
end up like an ill-fitting, wholly sweater.
Unfortunately, for many of us, the life of faith is like my
early career in “Little League”. We go
through our daily lives with our eyes closed because we fear that if we open
them, we might see the danger we are in rather than opening our eyes and using
the gift of light God gave us. Even
worse – it is like texting while driving; there is a good chance we will not
look up until it’s too late.
That is what the gift of the Lord really is; it means
literally “Be open”. It is the gift of
sight, not in the sense of physical vision, but rather the ability to see
things in the way God wants them to be.
It is the ability to understand, with the light of God’s wisdom, how we
must act if we are to enjoy and be at peace with the life with which he endowed
us.
He commands us: Be Open! – see that forgiveness leads to
peace and holding on to injury or hatred only leads to more pain.
He commands us: Be Open! – see that thinking only of our own
comfort and well-being will not bring us happiness and that sharing our gifts
with those who are less fortunate will bring us joy.
He commands us: Be Open! – see clearly the wisdom of God’s
natural law and the folly and selfishness denying life to others at all stages
of the life God gives them.
Part of the gift of the Ephphatha
is that in opening our lips to God’s glory (not our own) we pass on the gift
that was given to us. Our openness with
God’s truth, in words and actions, let’s others glimpse the light as well. Revealing the Lord’s truth opens the eyes of
others and has the power to transform the world.
In the Ephphatha we open our eyes and ears to see with
Christ’s own eyes what we may offer the world and how to enjoy the peace
offered by our heavenly Father. Knowing the mind of Christ in sacred scripture
will allow us to feel the true meaning of how the Lord was seen after he cured
the deaf mute, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet. Those who saw him exclaimed “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
May we be graced to hear those words from others to the greater glory of our
Heavenly Father.
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June
2014
[2]
S.S
Commemoratio
[3]
The picture is “Jesus Heals the Deaf Man” by Alexandre Bida, 1850’s
[4]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
No comments:
Post a Comment