TWENTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

 Isaiah 35:4-7a Psalm: 146 James 2:1-5 Mark 7:31-37

1. The first reading from Isaiah has an atmosphere that is joyful and optimistic. It is a mood of a people liberated from exile. They are returning home. This is accompanied by physical healings. However, Isaiah 35 is not from Second Isaiah. The people have not yet being captured and taken as slaves into a foreign land.

However, this reading sets the scene for the Gospel. There are healings like the blind begin to see, the lame begin to walk, the deaf begin to hear, and the dumb begin to speak. This last healing is the same scene as the Gospel. The word that Isaiah uses for the mute who is healed describes a person who has an impediment in his speech, rather than one who is dumb. This speech impediment makes one‘s spoken word unintelligible. Mark uses the same work to describe the mute cured by Jesus in the Gospel. The word is one of the “hapax legomena” or a set of words or phrases that occur only once in the Gospel.

2. An impediment in speech can be very excruciating, frustrating and almost unbearable especially when you know what to say, but cannot do so. We see this clearly in two groups of people.

• The first are little children before they learn to speak.
• The second are people who have had a stroke. Their minds are clear, but the stroke prevents them from verbalizing their thoughts and desires.

• We have experienced the irritation, the frustration and even anger at being unable to communicate, because of this impediment.

We can therefore picture the joy and relief of the deaf-mute when Jesus touches his ears and mouth and says:” “Ephphatha,” thus loosening the bonds of the two senses.

3. However, our Gospel has a whole set of layers which are worthy of our reflection and contemplation. What Jesus said and did was handed down orally and in writing. The followers of Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, adapted this to help their communities believe in Jesus, to love Jesus, and to follow Jesus. What we read is pretty close to what Jesus said plus a few adaptations, which would help the early communities apply these teachings to their lives.

• Our first stage is the healing of the deaf-mute by Jesus. It was more like an exorcism. The tongue of the man was loosened, was freed. Until then it was bound as if in slavery. Jesus, who normally heals by word, now heals with a physical touch. Jesus is the prophet. The ears and tongue are touched by the Word of God made flesh.
• This healing/exorcism reaches the Judeo-Christian community in Palestine, the land of Jesus. The Church wants of emphasize that we should not be surprised at these wonders, because they were merely a fulfilment of what was prophesized by Isaiah 35.
• The Hellenistic Church receives this miracle story with joy. Jesus the prophet is not so attractive as Jesus the wonder-worker. It shows the power of God. They retain the wonder word: “Ephphatha”�
• Finally, the evangelist puts his own touch. Jesus has been preaching the Kingdom of God. The Disciples do not seem to get the message. They are preoccupied with their own visions of glory and honour. They need the healing touch of the Master, since their ears have been shut, and their eyes are closed to the Kingdom.
• But the gospel continues to unfold in our own day and time. We claim to see, we claim to hear, we claim to speak. We say our prayers, we talk about God, we do theological research, we have interesting theological insights, but do we speak from the heart: “The word of God”.. We may speak about God but how intimate are we with the very person of God

Six of the professors who taught me Scripture and Dogmatics, and the Early Church fathers have since then left the Jesuits, the priesthood and the church. They are good men. They teach the Word of God as a Chemistry professor would teach a course on acids and alkalis. We continue to have an impediment in speech like the deaf-mute of the Gospel, because we continue to speak from our head (a good starting point) but go no further. We have to speak from the heart. One of the spiritual writers has described it beautifully when he says that the impediment in our own speech will go when we make the “Voice of God become an inviting, smiling, caressing and coaxing voice” which draws us to the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps a story, which you have heard before, would be worth repeating to bring home this message of speaking from the heart. A group of hikers were resting one night in the middle of a forest. There was no TV, no radio, no form of entertainment. So they decided to use their talents to entertain themselves. A young man with a fine voice, stood up and with passion declaimed the 23^rd Psalm.

 “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want,

Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose.. etc etc.”

It moved the people so much, they gave him a solid round of applause and there were cries: “Encore”. So he stood up and repeated his performance. Then an elderly gentleman came from the fringe of the group, and in a soft and gentle voice, which could be barely heard, repeated the same psalm. When he finished, there was no applause, but there was a deep quiet and sense of peace. A listener near the young man, nudged him and said simply: What? Why? The young man replied: I knew the Psalm, that gentleman knows the Shepherd.

The healing of the deaf-mute in today‘s Gospel reaches down through the centuries to us today. WE too have that impediment, and it will be cured as we continue to Speak From the Heart.