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Our Sunday Reflection - September 8, 2024
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He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.
Mark 7:31-37
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Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day
Take a look around you as you make yourself at home in God’s home. As you entered, did you welcome others as perhaps you yourself were welcomed? Did you see anyone you did not recognize? Did you give them the once over and make a judgment, perhaps in the back of your mind? In today’s second reading, James instructs the Christian com munity to show no partiality in their assembly. He warns them that those they may tend to avoid or ignore may be exactly those whom God chooses for the kingdom. In that spirit, let us always warmly welcome all who join us to worship the Lord.Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
Today we hear the story of a miracle in which Jesus performs a healing in a very intimate way. He draws a deaf and mute man away from the crowd, puts his fingers in his ears and, having spat on them, touches his tongue as well. Jesus is here with us in an intimate way as well. He has been just as close to us since we were baptized, when the priest or deacon touched our ears and mouth as well. He is with us as we gather in his name, in his very Body and Blood in the Eucharist we consume, and in each other. Listening to the readings today, let us realize that the One who healed in such a way is intimately close with us too, wherever we are.Reflections
- We are reminded today of how God transforms our lives. Isaiah promises that the LORD will transform both us and the world. The blind will see and the deaf will hear. Springs and streams will flow in barren lands. In the Gospel, Jesus cures a deaf man with a speech impediment. Jesus’ touch enables the stream of God’s word to flow into his ears and his proclamation of it to spring forward from his mouth. Note how physical Jesus’ actions are. He sticks his finger into this stranger’s ears. If that isn’t enough, after spitting on his finger he puts it in the stranger’s mouth. And just last week the religious authorities reprimanded him for eating with unclean hands! Jesus touches our lives in an intimate way and transforms them.
- Significantly, Jesus does not tell the man he heals to “Hear!” or “Speak!” So important is Jesus’ command that Mark leaves it in the original Aramaic: “Eph phatha!” (“Be opened!”) Perhaps Jesus is telling him to be open and receptive to a world transformed by the Son of God. Perhaps he is calling on him to be open to faith. By repeating the word that Jesus actually spoke, Mark may want his audience—then and now—to feel like Jesus is speaking directly to them, to us.
- We may not be literally deaf, but are we deaf to God’s word? Do we hear Jesus tell us to carry our crosses, but do not change the way we live? Do we hear him say that those who care for the least of our brothers and sisters will join him in the kingdom of heaven, but do not take it to heart? We may not be literally mute, but do we avoid speaking our faith? What are we saying, to use an example inspired by the second reading, if we ignore or bad-mouth someone who is also a child of God? Let us open our ears and open our lips to hear and proclaim the Good News.
Question of the Week
When have I failed to be open to Jesus’ message? Opening myself to his chal lenging message, how will I proclaim it by my words and actions?
-from Pastoral Patterns
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readings of the mass
LISTEN HERE to the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, September 8, 2024
SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, September 8, 2024
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Offerings
The Sunday offerings are a portion of our blessings that we give to God (Church) in gratitude to what God has done for us...ONLINE GIVING OPTIONS -
Reflections on the readings
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