20220216 UNDERSTANDING THROUGH HEARING AND SEEING
16 February, 2022, Wednesday, Week 6 in Ordinary Time
First reading | James 1:19-27 © |
The Word is not only to be listened to, but obeyed
Remember this, my dear brothers: be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to rouse your temper; God’s righteousness is never served by man’s anger; so do away with all the impurities and bad habits that are still left in you – accept and submit to the word which has been planted in you and can save your souls. But you must do what the word tells you, and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves. To listen to the word and not obey is like looking at your own features in a mirror and then, after a quick look, going off and immediately forgetting what you looked like. But the man who looks steadily at the perfect law of freedom and makes that his habit – not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice – will be happy in all that he does.
Nobody must imagine that he is religious while he still goes on deceiving himself and not keeping control over his tongue; anyone who does this has the wrong idea of religion. Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 14(15):2-5 © |
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
He who walks without fault;
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart;
he who does not slander with his tongue.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who does no wrong to his brother,
who casts no slur on his neighbour,
who holds the godless in disdain,
but honours those who fear the Lord.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who keeps his pledge, come what may;
who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the innocent.
Such a man will stand firm for ever.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:105 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is a lamp for my steps
and a light for my path.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Ep1:17,18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 8:22-26 © |
The blind man was cured and could see everything distinctly
Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man whom they begged him to touch. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Then putting spittle on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked, ‘Can you see anything?’ The man, who was beginning to see, replied, ‘I can see people; they look like trees to me, but they are walking about.’ Then he laid his hands on the man’s eyes again and he saw clearly; he was cured, and he could see everything plainly and distinctly. And Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’
UNDERSTANDING THROUGH HEARING AND SEEING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JAMES 1:19-27; MARK 8:22-26]
In today’s scripture readings, the focus is on how we hear and how we see because it will determine our level of understanding and perception. Most of us tend to hear superficially, that is without listening. So too, many of us see but hardly perceive. Consequently, we need to reflect on the way we hear and the way we see. St James gives us a lesson on hearing as listening. And our Lord gives us a lesson on seeing with perception.
With respect to hearing, we must cultivate the art of listening. St James exhorts us, “be quick to listen but slow to speak.” Most quarrels, misunderstandings and conflicts happen because we do not listen. We are always on the defensive and wanting to insist that our views and opinions hold. We find it difficult to listen to others because we have our fixed views of situations and issues. We are so convinced that it is the right view because of our narrow understanding of life and we see things from our narrow perspective. We are readier to retort and push our views across to be accepted by others.
One way of listening is using the Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats. If we really want to seek the best solution, De Bono invites us to put on the different hats at different times using logic and emotions so that we can have alignment in exploring the different solutions and ideas together. This will remove all prejudices or inadequate understanding of the issues. True listening, he said, should be a common attempt to look at a proposal together, explore it in depth, rather than have “a battle between competing egos.” Such a strategy will help us to put aside our ego and focus on finding the best ideas, bringing them together and improving on each other’s proposal. It is not a matter of who is right or wrong but through the interaction, new ideas are born. It generates creativity and unity and alignment. At the end of the day, everyone owns the final proposal and idea because it is the work and contribution of all.
This is particularly relevant when the Holy Father invites us to a Synodal Process in helping to renew the Church by listening to every person, whether they have left the Church, are nominal Catholics, or are active, including the religious and the clergy. Everyone from the youngest to the oldest would be given an opportunity to share their pains and struggles with each other, not also forgetting their joys and hopes for the Church. This process is not to be conducted as if it is a brain-storming session but rather it is to hear each other out, to feel with each other without judgment so that, listening to the Holy Spirit speaking through each other, we might come to understand the challenges facing each other, and then arrive at a consensus on what is needed for the Church to grow and to change.
Indeed, at all costs, we must avoid turning discussion into conflicts. When that happens, we become irritable, angry, exasperated and frustrated. St James reminds us that “God’s righteousness is never served by man’s anger.” It is so ironical that those who champion a certain cause in the name of justice and compassion themselves can be so taken up by their preoccupation of what they think is just, that they become unjust towards those who hold differing viewpoints on what can be considered just. As a result, we end up fighting with each other, getting angry and resentful, breaking communion with each other. Instead of working together for the common good of all, each goes his or her own way when the objective is the same, that is, working for justice and for the oppressed. This explains why there are many who are scandalized by the different churches fighting against each other. Sometimes, this happens within the same parish, where different church organizations are at odds with each other, competing and outdoing each other just to prove that they are better.
We must “do away with all the impurities and bad habits that are still left” in us. Indeed, even if we mean well, and many of us join organizations because we want to do the best for them, yet, quite often our ego and pride blind us to do what is truly good for everyone. We need to purify our motives and understand better those whom we work with and those we work for by listening well, humbly and selflessly. Unless we hear what they are actually saying, not in words but also what their hearts are feeling, we will not be able to identify with them in their needs. What we might think is their need might very well be ours, and not their concerns. Purifying our motives and minds will help.
How can we do this if not by listening to the Word of God? The author to the Hebrews wrote, “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.” Listening to the Word of God attentively without prejudice and without allowing one’s views or one’s theological and doctrinal position to influence us enables us to understand the Word of God anew. This should be the same process as we listen to each other during the synodal journey so that the Word of God comes alive again. Otherwise, the danger is that we tend to impose our fixed ideas and views on the Word which we read, rather than putting on a new perspective.
This is what the Lord is teaching us in today’s gospel through the cure of the Blind Man. We are told that when He came to Bethsaida, “some people brought to him a blind man whom they begged him to touch. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.” This was because Jesus wanted him to look from a new perspective. As he was blind, he would have remembered all the steps and paths in the village. He would have been so conscious that others would be looking at him when the Lord was healing him. So that he could focus on our Lord and abandon his previous thoughts, Jesus took him out to the village.
Secondly, it is significant that the Lord gave a personal touch to this healing process. As he was blind, he was not able to see, but he could feel. To assist him, Jesus used touch, which the blind man was so familiar with to feel the power of the healing effects. He used spittle to let him feel what He was doing. He laid His hands over Him to allow him to experience the power of prayer and God’s healing power coming from on High. To listen, we must not only use logic but also the heart as well. People do not only respond from logic alone. In fact, most of us respond with our entire being, which means through our feelings and how people touch us with their hands, their smiles, their words of encouragement, their empathy. Logic alone cannot win the hearts of people, only their minds. But often the minds are prejudiced because the heart is wounded and people feel that they are not listened to.
Finally, the Lord was patient enough to wait for him to regain his perspective. Initially, the man “who was beginning to see, replied, ‘I can see people; they look like trees to me, but they are walking about.’ Then he laid his hands on the man’s eyes again and he saw clearly; he was cured, and he could see everything plainly and distinctly.” It took him some time to gain confidence and recover his eyesight. So too for us as well. When listening, we will eventually change our perspective towards the person, and even the strong opinion we hold.
When the man was confident enough, Jesus told him, “not to go to the village” so that he would not once again rely on his touch only as he did when he was blind. Jesus wanted him to use his eyes to see and go back home by a different way. Indeed, his healing was a contrast to the apostles who were still blind after seeing the miracles of the loaves. They were still like the Pharisees, unable to perceive the deeper meaning of His miracles. Their hearts were hardened because they were still observing from the surface and failed to go deeper into the meaning of what they saw. Let us listen with our hearts and minds, first to the Word of God and then, using the same listening skills, talk to our fellowmen.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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