Scripture:
1st Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7A
2nd Reading: James 2: 1-5
Gospel: Mark 7:31-37
After listening to this gospel, I can’t help but think of the times I have not heard or spoke the way I should. The situations of our world keep us caught up in the moment and once the moment has passed away we go on doing the same old stupid things. Yes, it even happens to me!
How many of us, for example, take what we have heard each Sunday and have gone out to speak it? Whether it be in our homes, our work places, our play places, our school, with our family, friends? Can we honestly say that we have heard?
How many times have we not really rationalized the truth that what we receive in this Eucharist, even when Jesus tells us that this is his body and blood, really believe it when we come forth to this altar to receive communion? Are our ears really open to hear?
In our first reading from Isaiah, we hear the great prophet tell us: “Say to those whose hearts are frightened, Be strong, fear not! He comes with vindication, with divine recompense. He comes to save you.”
Why would we fear, he comes to save us!!!!!!!!
We fear because that means that we would have to give up our own agenda, give up our will for ourselves, not allowing God’s will to inspire us, to teach us, to lead us. If we become deaf to Isaiah’s message of hope that he is proclaiming to us, yes, you and me, right now, then how can we be the voice of hope believing in the truth and sharing that truth with others?
In our humanness, we succumb to the ways of the world even with all the doom and gloom and negative thinking and actions around us. We are creatures of habit. What we hear over and over again throughout our daily lives tends to say to us that it is all normal for today’s society, even with all the bad things going on in our homes, our neighborhoods, our world.
Many would rather despair than to hope. For to despair is to quit and selfishly look at ourselves as being in charge and in control. For us as Christians, we hold on to hope, that is to see the big picture, to hear God, to acknowledge God as creator, sustainer, savior.
In our Gospel today, Jesus brings great hope to a deaf man with a speech impediment. He says; “Ephphatha”, that is, “Be opened”. And immediately the ears of the deaf man are opened. Imagine the found sense of hope for this once deaf man.
I liken this scenario to a series I watched some time ago but never forgot. It was about children who were poor and had no resources to get hearing aids or to get the surgery that would restore their hearing. But, through a handful of Good Samaritans whose ears were open to hear, reached out to help these defenseless but beautiful children.
Because of these Good Samaritans, most of the children’s hearing was restored, some hearing for the first time in there young lives. But that’s not the miracle I saw. What I saw was the hope in these children’s eyes, the hope for a future, a future that would not look at them as castaways, ones who did not fit in,
You could see them experience noises and sounds and not be amazed at just hearing them, but being amazed at what the noises and sounds meant. Because of those few who really cared and as they listened to God’ will for them, these little children were able to hear also.
This is the point, isn’t it? Open ourselves to the will of God, to listen, really listen, and be guided by hope in Him and in His kingdom set for us?
In life, we miss many things because we do not really listen. If we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives then we miss hearing our Lord speaking to us. One point is sure, he will never give up on us and sooner or later we will hear him, if not now, at the end of time as we know it. Don’t wait until its too late!
It is not easy, is it? For to really listen means to take on responsibility. Responsibility to learn about our faith, to learn about Jesus, to realize that the giving of ourselves to others is the right thing to do, to be (Christified). That is being like Christ. After all, we do call ourselves Christian, don’t we?
Prayer is where we will find Him the most. Whether it is verbal or silent prayer, whether it is just a quick calling to God in thought, or a loud scream, he is listening to us. Let us do the same in return.
Let us open our ears to hear. Don’t fear. Have strength when God calls us to the lonely, the forgotten, the sick, the dying, the imprisoned, the hungry, the naked, the marginalized. This was the life of Jesus and should be the life for us as followers. Learn to listen to the lonely, the troubled, the worried. For many, the best medicine, the best gift, is to have someone really listen to their troubles and also their joys. Don’t be a busy body but a companion.
My Brothers and Sisters: As the deaf man was taken away in private by Jesus, Jesus brought God’s love to him in an intimate and incarnational way, physically through intimacy and touch, through sound and spoken word. Jesus, in the end, touched his heart.
If we open ourselves to God’s will, things will happen for our good. God wants to share his love so badly that he sent his Son to die for us. Hope in Him. Let us be the voice of hope, let us keep our hearts open to receive God’s healing touch by listening to Him through his voice, his word.
I leave you with this quote from somewhere: “A person without hope is a person without life”. This is what hearing Him gives us, life