23rd Sunday of Ordinary

In today’s first reading, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to God’s people during their captivity in Babylon: “Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes to save you.” God’s salvation is expressed in terms of healing the blind and the deaf, the lame and the mute. The reading prepares us for the Gospel where Jesus heals a man who was a deaf mute. Jesus’ healing work was a work of compassion, but it also announced in a dramatic way God’s saving presence among his people. In our own times of trial, we need to remind ourselves over and over again of these words of Isaiah: “Here is your God, he comes to save you.”

Notice in today’s Gospel, the deaf man’s friends brought him to Jesus and begged Jesus to lay his hands on him. We need good friends and people in our lives who can lead us to Jesus by their faith and sometimes we have to be the person who leads others to Jesus. Jesus has a sacramental style in his healing. He uses words, materials, and actions. He utters the Aramaic word “Ephphatha” which means "be opened”. Ephphatha was retained to emphasize Jesus' mysterious power. He uses spittle. In those days, spittle was believed to have curative quality. His actions included looking up to heaven and touching the man’s ears and tongue. Looking up to heaven implies that the healing comes from God. Once the deaf man could hear clearly, he could also speak clearly. Notice when Jesus healed the man he took him aside, away from the crowd. We need to get away from the crowd or noisy world. each day to spend a little while in silence with our Lord. Jesus helped this man to hear, and in doing so he shows us what his primary mission was, to teach us how to hear and how to listen to God. We need quiet time. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “ In the silence of the heart of God speaks.” What does this mean to you?