Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time [Mk 7:
31-37]
08.09.2024
Jesus Heals a Deaf and Dumb Man
1. Theme in brief
Our spiritual deafness and
dumbness
2. Focus Statement:
Jesus
has the power to open our ears to listen to God’s voice, and mouths to praise
him, to speak about him to others and to speak for his cause.
3. Explanation of the text
The healing of a deaf and mute man in today’s gospel clearly has the spiritual
intention of evoking faith in the listeners so that their ears will become more
attuned to God’s Word and knowledge of his will through it,
and their mouths will begin to sing his praises for the marvellous deeds he does through Jesus. Since physical
disabilities like deafness and muteness were considered to be either punishment of God for one’s sins, or signs of possession by demons in Jesus’ times, this cure projects
Jesus as the one who has come to forgive
sins and liberate humans from demonic possessions. This miracle
that proclaims his power to “make the deaf to hear and the mute to speak”
(7:37) is performed in a Gentile territory called
Surely, the healing of the ‘differently abled’ person in today’s gospel
is based on the implicit faith of the
unnamed persons who brought him to Jesus so that he could lay his hands on him
(7:32). Laying one’s hands on people was
a common gesture used by the prophets to impart God’s blessings. Those who brought him might have
believed in the healing power of Jesus’ blessing. Most probably the patient was
deaf by birth, and his deafness must have caused his “impediment in speech” (7:32). His inability to hear anything from birth
might have caused his inability to articulate words. By taking the man aside in
private (7:33), Jesus probably wanted to perform
this healing miracle not for his own glory.
His glory would remain a ‘messianic secret’
(to use the term of biblical scholars) till he would be glorified through his death
and resurrection. This messianic secret is another reason why he ordered them
to tell no one about this miracle (7:36). It is also possible that Jesus, by
taking him aside, wanted to save him from public embarrassment,
or avoid publicity for himself by sensationalizing his healing power.
Mark says that Jesus used two significant gestures for healing this person: putting his fingers into his ears and touching his tongue with his spittle (7:33). In those days, since traditional healers believed in the curative quality of spittle, Jesus must have used local beliefs and traditions to cure this patient. He must have used this method as a visible sign of conveying his healing power through a touch, or to give the message that the source of healing is his own Person. He used another gesture of looking up to heaven to praise God and indicate his trust in his help (7:34). His “sigh” or groan (7:34) might indicate either his compassion at the patient’s misery, or his pity at the sight of human afflictions. Some authors say that his sigh was a symbolic expression to hint at those who do not ‘hear’ or ‘speak’ in spite of having eyes and ears. The Aramaic word “Ephphatha,” meaning, be opened (7:34), indicates the power inherent in his word (the same as the Word of God that is effective and fruitful), or the authority with which he cures the sick. In this context, it implies: Let your ears and the lips be opened. Let the barrier or block in your ears be loosed and let the tongue be released from all impediments of speech. Just as God’s Word, Jesus’ Word had its immediate effect of an instant cure.
When people saw what
Jesus had done, they were astounded
beyond measure and exclaimed that he had done everything so well (7:37). This could be an allusion to what
God said when he completed his creation, as we read in the Book of Genesis: God
saw whatever he had made and said it was good
(Gen 1:31). Probably Mark wanted to tell his readers that God had begun the
work of re-creation through the healing
ministry of his Son. With his ministry of granting holistic health of body and
salvation from sin, Jesus had restored
the original harmony lost by human sins. According to Prophet Isaiah, when God
comes to liberate his people, the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the
tongue of the speechless will sing for joy (Is 35:5-6). By healing this deaf and mute person, Jesus discloses his messianic identity as
foretold by Isaiah.
4. Application to life
Today’s gospel text gives us the message that Jesus has the power to
heal us from our spiritual deafness and dumbness, if we approach him with the humble faith of those persons who brought the deaf
and dumb man to him trusting in the power of his blessing (= by laying his hands on the
patient). In baptismal liturgy there is a rite based on today’s text called “Ephphata”
(= be opened), to indicate that by baptism Jesus opens our closed minds to
listen to his words, and go out to proclaim his love. In spite of that, quite
often, we fail to hear God’s voice and fail to speak about him and for his
cause. As Jesus says (referring to Prophet Isaiah): “This people’s heart has
grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing…so that they might not look with their
eyes and listen with their ears” (Mt 13:15). Our spiritual deafness may consist in the following matters:
(1) Refusing to listen to God or not obeying him and doing his will: First of all, God makes his will known
to us through prayer and listening to his Word. Jesus says: “My sheep hear my voice” (Jn 10:27). One of the essential
attributes of true love is the ability to listen to the loved one. If two
parties have to grow in a love-relationship, they have not only to speak but
also listen to each other. If we really love the Lord, we have to be familiar with his voice and recognize it amidst so many contrary voices of the world and wrong
advice of our misguiding
or misleading masters, self-seeking leaders and bad companions, or bad influence of
the mass media. In John’s gospel, Mary Magdalene is depicted as a faithful sheep
(= disciple) who is attuned to the voice of the Shepherd (Master) and
recognizes it immediately as she hears him calling her by name (20:16). When we become attuned totally and only
to the above-mentioned contradictory voices of the world, we become ‘deaf’ to God’s voice. Therefore we need to familiarize ourselves with God’s voice coming to
us through his Word and prayerful reflections. When we sink into the deep ‘sea’
due to ‘storms’ of life, feel like running away or giving up in unbearable
situations, feel confused, carry burdens of our social and family obligations,
and face challenges and risks, his voice (Word) comforts, encourages,
strengthens, guides and supports us.
(2) Refusing to listen to God’s voice coming through our own consciences: As Abdul Kalam (former President of
India) says, our conscience “raises its voice in protest whenever anything is thought of or
done which is contrary to righteousness….If conscience stings once, it is an abomination; if twice,
it is a condemnation….Why have we become deaf to the voice of our conscience; insensitive to its pricks; and callous to its criticism?” Once
our conscience becomes corrupt and stops pricking us when we do something wrong,
then no Word of God or prayer and religious observances will work.
(3) Refusing to listen to the good advice/ guidance/ counsel of our parents, good friends and
spiritual guides: The voice of the Lord can be recognized also in loving
relationships with those who are close to us. The Lord speaks to us not only
through his Word but also through the guidance (good advice) given by our
parents, good friends, teachers, Spiritual Guides, etc. If we stubbornly refuse
to listen to their voice, especially when they do it purely out of love for us,
indirectly it is our failure to listen to the voice of God. Many of us do not
want to ask/ consult a good guide or friend about any of our problems or
matters of our conscience. They keep it inside themselves; face it alone and fall
away alone.
(4) Refusing to listen to one another in family: Nowadays we observe that
communication in our families is becoming more and more superficial and members inside it becoming individualistic. The mentality which increasingly
gains ground is: “You mind your business; I mind my business.” Interestingly,
even children have their own ‘appointments’ to keep on Sundays and holidays.
Where is time to listen to any guidance and imbibe Christian values?
(5) Becoming deaf to the cries of the needy and the suffering around us and in the world: When we
attentively listen to God’s Word in faith, it moves us or stirs us up to listen
to the voice of the voiceless and the marginalized in our society. It motivates
us to lend a helping hand to alleviate their miseries at least in a small way
or by a small gesture of kindness, if not in a big way. It also gives us the
courage to speak for them or on their behalf.
Secondly, when our faith is strong enough and our contact with Christ is
intimate, Jesus gives us the power to open our mouths to praise him, to speak about
him to others and to speak for his cause. Our spiritual dumbness consists in the following matters: (1)
not opening our mouths to praise God or to pray spontaneously outside memorized
prayers; (2) not sharing or speaking about our faith with others, especially
when opportunity comes; (3) not speaking about God, Jesus and spiritual matters
to our own children; (shying away?); (4) not cultivating the habit of sharing
one’s feelings, beliefs, hope, expectations, opinions with one’s own family
members (becoming non-communicative or superficial in relationships); (5) not
speaking for God and his values such as justice and truth; (6) not speaking on
behalf of the voiceless; (7) not speaking words of comfort, consolation and
encouragement to the affiliated; etc.
According to today’s message, Jesus gives us ears to listen to the cries
of the poor and tongues to speak on their behalf. Suppose we have no opinion at
all or just keep quiet or remain indifferent and say nothing/ do nothing when injustice is
done under our nose, human rights and dignity are violated; we see suffering and poverty
in the world but remain insensitive to it; or we see highly corrupt
or immoral practices around us but always shut our mouths, we become simply ‘dumb’.
This last issue of corruption troubles those Christians who do jobs more than
others, where corruption is accepted as a way of life and speaking against it
amounts to losing one’s job or facing constant harassment and victimization in
workplaces. They need enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to stick to
at least a less-risky principle such as, not actively cooperating, joining,
involving in corrupt practices whenever possible; disapproving it in private
circles of friends; etc. Because it is risky and not possible in our
workplaces, it does not mean we should approve of or cooperate with corrupt /
immoral/ unjust ways of the world in all situations at all times and make it
our way of life.
As we reflect on this message, today we need to thank God in a special way for giving us the ears to listen to his Word and the faculty of speech to sing his praises. But it is important for us to ask why he has given us these senses? Woe to us, in spite of having them, if we do not use them to listen to his voice and proclaim his love to others. To strengthen our Christian commitment, we rely on three powers: (1) the Spirit of the Lord who removes all internal impediments of the mind and melts the hardness of our hearts; (2) the Word of God by opening our minds to receive it with a humble and obedient faith; and (3) the sacraments which are external and visible signs through which the living God touches our hearts and minds, just as Jesus touched the differently-abled person (the deaf-mute) by touching his ears with fingers and tongue with spittle.
5. Response to God's Word
Today Jesus comes to heal us from our spiritual deafness and dumbness.
Are we deaf to God’s Word and afraid to respond to it through confession of
faith? The Psalmist says: “O that today you would listen to his voice; do not
harden your hearts….as on that day….when your ancestors tested me” (Ps 95:7-9).
We express our regret today for hardening our hearts by not listening to God’s voice coming
to us through his Word, our own consciences and the counsel of good-willed
people. We regret for the times we made the contradictory voices of the
world as our guiding/ driving force like our ancestors. We bow our
heads in sorrow for our sins of disobedience to God and our failure to speak about him and for
him. We examine whether we shy away from our responsibility to transmit our
faith in God and his Son Jesus Christ to our children; and whether our
conscience has stopped pricking us whenever we do something wrong.
6. A prayer
Lord Jesus, with firm faith in your healing power, we beg you to heal us from our spiritual deafness and dumbness. Open our closed minds to listen to your words so that we may go out to proclaim your love. We are sorry for the times we hardened our heart by disobeying your Word and failed to pay enough attention to it. We ask your pardon for failing to take our role as faith-educators of our children seriously and speak to them about your values. Grant that we may form our conscience so that we remain alert to its pricks and be always attuned to our inner voice. O Spirit of the Living God, come and remove all internal impediments of the mind and melt the hardness of our hearts. Amen.
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