20210905 COMMUNICATING THE GOOD NEWS TO A WORLD HARD OF HEARING
05 September, 2021, Sunday, 23rd Week, Ordinary Time
First reading | Isaiah 35:4-7 © |
The blind shall see, the deaf hear, the dumb sing for joy
Say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;
for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 145(146):7-10 © |
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down.
It is the Lord who loves the just,
the Lord, who protects the stranger.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord upholds the widow and orphan
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading | James 2:1-5 © |
God chose the poor according to the world to be rich in faith
My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?
Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.
Gospel Acclamation | 1S3:9,Jn6:68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Mt4:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among the people.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 7:31-37 © |
'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'
Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’
COMMUNICATING THE GOOD NEWS TO A WORLD HARD OF HEARING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Isaiah 35:4-7; Ps 146:6-10; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37]
In the first reading, Isaiah prophesied that after the exile, which is the judgment of God on the rebellion of Israel, God would lead them out and rebuild Israel. Hence, God told Isaiah to tell the people, “Say to all faint hearts, Courage! Do not be afraid. Look, your God is coming, he is coming to save you.” Like Israel, humanity is on the brink of disaster. Although things seem to be going on very well for humanity, with technological advancements and economic prosperity, yet this planet and humanity is under threat because of the selfishness and self-centeredness of man. Like the people of Israel and the deaf man in today’s gospel, the world is blind to the implications of excluding God and morality from our lives. The world is spiritually deaf to the voice of God. The media, entertainment and the bustle of modern life drown the voice of God. Our people have become materialistic, individualistic and amoral with respect to what is true and good. We see this confusion reflected in human relationships, in marriage, in family life, and in society. On the global level, climate warming, natural disasters, pandemic and wars are always looming over our lives. Indeed, we are short-sighted because we have been deceived by what we hear.
But in the midst of the gloom and doom, the scripture readings assure us that God is going to bring about a new creation. The old would be destroyed and a new creation will arise. As Isaiah said, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy; for water gushes in the desert, streams in the wasteland, the scorched earth becomes a lake, the parched land springs of water.” In the gospel, Jesus showed Himself to be the one who will recreate the earth. In the healing of the man with an impediment in his speech, Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. Indeed, Jesus had come not just to give sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, but He had come to restore creation. This explains why at the end of the gospel, the people remarked, “He has done all things well, he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.” These same words were applied to God when He created the world in the Book of Genesis, “God saw that it was good.” (Gn 1:10,12,18, 21,25,31) And at the of creation, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” (Gn 1:31)
How, then, can we continue the good work that Jesus had done in renewing the face of the earth? Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He told His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:19f) How can we communicate the Good News effectively to people in our days who have lost sight of their identity and what they are called to be, and the ability to hear the Word of God proclaimed to them? Indeed, many are blinded by materialism and their intellectual knowledge, thinking they know everything. Others are deaf to the Word of God proclaimed because the secular and worldly ideology is proclaimed more effectively and globally to our people who consume such propaganda from the internet, social media and the entertainment industry.
We turn to Jesus who is our model in evangelizing the world of Gentiles. The world today could be likened to the Gentiles during the time of Jesus and the early Church. The Gentiles were excluded from salvation. They were condemned and considered as unclean by the Jews. Just before today’s miracle of the healing of the deaf man, Jesus had cast out the evil spirit from the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus tested her faith by showing reluctance to heal her daughter as He came first for the people of Israel.
Still in Gentile territory, in the region of the Decapolis, some people brought a deaf man with an impediment in his speech to Jesus. They begged Him to lay his hand on him. The first thing that Jesus did was to address the predicament of the deaf man. He was not preaching to those who could not hear Him. This deaf man would not be able to make out what Jesus was saying or what He intended to do. For those who are blind and deaf, the sense of touch is very important. Indeed, the proclamation of the Good News is not just a matter of words, but it is of touch. It is how we touch the lives of people that is critical in spreading the Good News. It is not so much what we say but how we say and what we do and how we do it. It is through concrete actions of love that we touch the hearts of people.
This precisely is the reminder that St James gave to his congregation. He said, “Do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people.” Then he gave the example of how we treat a rich man differently from a poor man. When we practise favouritism, we cannot call each other, “my brothers”, as St James addressed the people. Indeed, all are equal in the eyes of God, regardless of our position in life or in society, since He gives us all good gifts. St James made it clear, “Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.” In this same chapter, St James said, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?’ So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (Jms 2:14-17)
The only way to proclaim the good news effectively is through our inclusivity, respect for all peoples, impartial treatment and charity. This was the way of Jesus in reaching out to the deaf man. Jesus took him aside, away from the crowd because Jesus was very sensitive to the feelings of the deaf person. He did not want to embarrass him because he could not speak properly. Jesus treated the deaf man with great respect and care. Since he could not hear what Jesus was saying, Jesus used actions to convey to the man that He was about to heal him by putting “his fingers into the man’s ears” and that He was about to help him to gain back his speech by touching “his tongue with spittle.” We can be sure that the deaf man felt assured that Jesus was healing him since he could not hear what Jesus was saying.
“Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.'” This was another important gesture on the part of Jesus, for by looking towards heaven, Jesus sought to convey to the man that it would be God who would heal him. It is the power of God and the power of prayer. Again, when He looked towards heaven, Jesus gave a sigh. This was an expression of His compassion and empathy with the suffering of the deaf man. His sigh came from His deep identification with the poor man. This compassion of Jesus was also expressed when Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus. When Jesus saw Mary and the others, Jesus was deeply moved and began to weep. (Jn 11:33f) Showing compassion and empathy is a necessary step in healing people. Even physicians know that it is not just their medical knowledge and skills alone that save their patients, but their empathy with them, their assurance and encouragement.
As a consequence, the man who could not hear or speak earlier was unable to stop speaking now, although “Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it. Their admiration was unbounded.” Indeed, evangelization is complete the moment we touch the lives of people, whether by word or by deed. We know that our evangelization is effective when they spontaneously, without coercion on our part, proclaim His wonders and His works in their lives. Conversely, if we are dumb in proclaiming His Word, it is because we are still crippled by our disbelief, fear of saying or doing the wrong things, because we have not heard His Word proclaimed nor believe in our hearts. When we see the power of God at work in our lives, we will not stop proclaiming His wonders. To evangelize, we must first be evangelized.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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