In the Gospel passage for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mk 7:31-37), the people of a village bring a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment to Jesus and plead with him to lay his hand on him. What do you think made the people of the village do this? The deaf man could see, after all, and he could have found his own way to Jesus and asked for himself. What do imagine caused the people to get involved on the deaf man’s behalf? What are some things that lead you to get involved on the behalf of others?
We also read in this passage that Jesus “took him [the deaf man] off by himself away from the crowd.” (v. 33). Perhaps to remove the noise and distractions? Perhaps to engage in a more personal way with the man? Or maybe it was something else.
In the Scripture passage prior to this one, Jesus is trying to step away from the crowds when he is approached by the Syrophoenician woman asking for her daughter to be healed (Mk 7:24-30). This occurs after he has responded to the Pharisees questioning his disciples’ behavior; where Jesus replied in part, “Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” (Mk 7:15). Considering this teaching and carrying it forward into Jesus’s interactions with the Syrophoenician woman and the deaf man, reflect on the way he receives and responds to people, situations, and what’s going on around him.
How do you receive people, situations, and what’s going on around you? What inner attitudes or dispositions do you carry into interactions? What’s going on in your heart, and how does it affect your response?
Coming back to today’s Gospel Jesus says, “Ephphatha!” (“Be opened!”), and as a result, the deaf man can hear, and his speech impediment is gone. He is healed from his affliction through Jesus’s command, or call, to openness. So why then, does Jesus tell the man not to tell anyone? And how might this fit in with the idea of evangelization?
Maybe Jesus is calling us to be open to what’s going on around us and what God is trying to tell us as individuals, to further open and transform one’s own heart toward greater understanding and compassion. And with that, reminding us that evangelization comes through the grace of God and at times is aided, or complemented, by kind and loving hearts that are both fluid with and fixated on God.
Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. – Isaiah 35:4
As summer heads toward a close, schools reopen, and traffic picks up in the Northern Hemisphere, time can be more challenging to come by as busyness seeks to prevail. Like “a thief in the night” it can swiftly sneak away the quiet, still moments that seem to come more easily during the days of summer. Yet, despite a likely fuller schedule and a quicker pace all around, peace within remains, patiently waiting to connect… waiting to be heard.
In the Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Responsorial Psalm is “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.” (Psalm 95:8). What does that really mean? While it can be difficult to think of oneself as having a heart that is hardened, maybe there’s another way to consider this.
St. Thomas of Villanova said, “I cannot see without light: yet if I shut my eyes in the midst of the noon-day light, the fault is in me, not in the sun.” Although today’s world tends toward pointing fingers, and finding fault may be tempting, perhaps the key here is in exploring what one sees.
What are the situations and places where one is more prone to looking past what’s in plain sight, readily drawing a conclusion, or closing one’s eyes, rather than opening them wider and acknowledging all there is to see or consider? These are the places that hold an invitation to prayer and discovery. These are the places where a heart might be less open to God (hardened) and God’s ways of love, mercy, compassion, peace, hope, integrity, and more. These are the places where one can grow closer to God, living more fully in a way that encompasses a desire for goodness for all and operates to extend love and the flow of God’s grace.
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” – Mt 18:20
Kahlil Gibran wrote, “The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose.” Looking at the circumstances occurring around the world today, one might wonder how on earth it is possible to not see thorns and weeds run amok. However, also happening around the world at the same time as all these daunting occurrences are ones that inspire and give cause to celebrate.
Perhaps within these days, too, there is opportunity to hold a broader view and to seek the hope that is awaiting in each moment, in each act of love, kindness, mercy, and compassion. But first, a pause. Maybe there is a letting go or taking up that needs some space to allow it to unfold. These kinds of times are also often great for working through unrest and moving closer, if not to the side of peace.
Imagine a rose without thorns. Is it perfect? Is it incomplete? Either way, honesty urges taking in the entire picture, whether of something familiar or something unknown. For that is when truth comes into view, and with it, a return to what is real. Yet, all along the way, Wisdom softly calls, although we may evolve, sometimes resist, or dig in, there is always something greater happening here. In fact, there is always something greater happening everywhere. Yes, and it is worthwhile to behold.
Lord, you have been our refuge through all generations. – Psalm 90:1
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