20240209 RE-CREATION
09 February 2024, Friday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Kings 11:29-32,12:19 © |
Solomon is unfaithful; the Lord moderates his wrath
One day when Jeroboam had gone out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh accosted him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak; the two of them were in the open country by themselves. Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve strips, saying to Jeroboam, ‘Take ten strips for yourself, for thus the Lord speaks, the God of Israel, “I am going to tear the kingdom from Solomon’s hand and give ten tribes to you. He shall keep one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.’
And Israel has been separated from the House of David until the present day.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 80(81):10-15 © |
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
Let there be no foreign god among you,
no worship of an alien god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you from the land of Egypt.
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
But my people did not heed my voice
and Israel would not obey,
so I left them in their stubbornness of heart
to follow their own designs.
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
O that my people would heed me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
At once I would subdue their foes,
turn my hand against their enemies.
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Jn6:63,68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
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.’
RE-CREATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Kgs 11:29-32;12:19; Ps 81:10-15; Mk 7:31-37]
The world today is very much concerned with climate warming and ecology. Yet, the root of all our problems is not climate warming and environmental ecology but the fragmentation of human ecology by secularism, relativism, the redefinition of marriage and family life, and the loss of the sacredness of life. Indeed, the cause of climate warming is not nature but the abuse of nature, which begins with the denial of what human nature is and who we are and the place and role we occupy in creation.
Indeed, this begins with humanity rejecting God. This was what happened to the Kingdom of Israel. King David united the Northern and Southern Kingdom but because of the failure of King Solomon in observing the commandments of God, he brought disarray and division to the kingdom. Worst of all, he brought in the idols of his foreign wives for worship. Hence, the prophet was sent by God to announce to Jeroboam that the kingdom would be divided. Judah in the South would be separated from the other 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
Rejection of God and His commandments is the cause of religious and moral decadence. This is what the responsorial psalm warns us. “I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning. Let there be no foreign god among you, no worship of an alien god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But my people did not heed my voice and Israel would not obey, so I left them in their stubbornness of heart to follow their own designs.”
It is for this reason that Jesus came to reconcile man with God so that he can find wholeness and healing. The gospel miracle of the healing of the Deaf Man is symbolic of what Jesus came for to this earth. He wants to restore man to his dignity as sons and daughters of God. Like the deaf man, Israel was deaf to the Word of God. They were disobedient to God’s commandments. Because they could not hear the Word of God, they could not praise Him as well. That is why, when we are deaf, we are also dumb because a deaf man cannot hear God and so cannot praise Him as well.
Hence, Jesus came to heal us and restore us to wholeness. It is significant that Jesus healed a deaf man in the region of the Decapolis. This area was inhabited by Gentiles with some Jewish colonies. We are told that the people brought “him a deaf man who had an impediment on his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him.” Jesus came to open the ears of all because of sin, we are not able to listen to the Word of God. So the healing of the deaf man is expressive of Jesus as the Word of God sought to do. Through the proclamation of the Good News, we might be converted. The psalmist said, “O that my people would heed me, that Israel would walk in my ways! At once I would subdue their foes, turn my hand against their enemies.”
How did Jesus effect the cure of the deaf man? Jesus took him aside to minister to him. He identified with the man who would be so embarrassed to have the crowd looking on at him. It is strange that in the case of the deaf man, Jesus had to “put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle.” We know that Jesus could heal from afar just by a command. He did not even need to see the Centurion’s servant for his servant to be healed. He could have healed remotely or directly by just a word if He had wanted to. The only requirement is faith in Him and in His divine powers.
Why, then, in the case of the deaf man, did Jesus use such visible and tangible means to heal him? This was because Jesus knew that this was the most effective way to help the man to gain faith. Since he could not hear, he would not be able to know what the Lord had said or what He had preached about God and His mercy. Although, he could not hear, he could feel, and from the touches of our Lord, he would have been able to sense what the Lord was telling him. So when the Lord put His fingers into the ears of the deaf man, He was indicating to him that the power of God was opening up his ears to hear. The fingers of our Lord also symbolized the finger of God, which is the Holy Spirit. So Jesus was giving him assurance of divine power healing him. This was reinforced by using His spittle to touch his tongue. And to cap it all, we read that, “looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.'” Mark retained this Aramaic Word, “Ephphatha” because the man would have been able to lip-read what Jesus was saying. By looking up to heaven, Jesus was telling him that the power to heal comes from on High. And by speaking to him directly, giving him full attention, He helped the man to open himself totally to the grace of God. As a consequence, “his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly.”
Indeed, we have a great lesson to learn from Jesus about healing our brothers and sisters. It is not enough to pray for healing, but we must know that whilst God’s grace can work from afar and without the human touch, most of us receive God’s healing touch with words, gestures and touches. This is why even a hug from our loved ones gives us much assurance and love. Hence, I can understand why even after Mass, so many people would come to the priest to ask for a prayer for healing. This is because, like the deaf man, they need to be touched, to hear the prayers personally addressed to God about their condition, and to find hope and strength through the faith of the priest or the healer. When we are called to reach out to others and to heal them, we must use all the human means available to us to convey the healing touch of God and to strengthen their weak faith. Indeed, when I pray to people for healing, either I would touch the part of the body to be healed or ask the person to lay hands on that part of his or her body that needs healing. When Jesus healed, He always touched them. Even for the leper, He would extend His hand to touch him.
From this event too, we can understand and appreciate the sacramentals used by the Church to bless people or to anoint them, or for the use of liturgy. The truth is that as human beings we are affected by what we see, hear and touch. So sacramentals are important to convey the sentiments of security, warm, healing, joy, peace, contrition, etc. They are not to be used superstitiously, but with faith. This was what happened to the woman with haemorrhage who touched the cloak of our Lord. (cf Mk 5:25-34) “Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them.” (Mt 15:30) We also read that in the ministry of Peter that even Peter’s shadow which fell on the sick was able to heal them as he passed by. (cf Acts 5:15f) The fact remains that we all need sacramental and sacraments to encounter the healing and sanctifying grace of God.
In restoring the man’s hearing and speech, Jesus was restoring the whole of humanity. It is the fulfilment of the messianic prophecy of Isaiah when the prophet envisaged a restored creation through divine intervention. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (cf Isa 35:5f) In the New Creation, everything would be made new because human beings are restored and reconciled with God and the whole of creation. “For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.” (Isa 35:7) This new creation has already begun in Jesus. It began with the renewal of man in Christ before the rest of creation. “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.” (2 Cor 5:17f)
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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