23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B); September 8, 2024

Is 35:4-7a.  Ps 146.  Jas 2:1-5.  Mk 7:31-37

Deacon Jim McFadden

            In this Sunday’s Gospel passage (Mk 7:31-37), we have the episode of the miraculous healing by Jesus of a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment.  The evangelist Mark begins his narrative to describe where this miracle took place: namely, to “the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis” (v. 31b).  Now, why’s that important?  This region was predominantly occupied by pagans, who had a different religious consciousness than the Jews.  The disciples went with Jesus into pagan territory to open the ears and mouths of those who are closed off to God’s call.  On one level, the man was physically deaf and dumb, but there is a spiritual deafness to the Word of God and therefore is unable communicate the Word of God.

            This episode hangs on the decisive word that Jesus speaks to the man in Aramaic: Ephphatha, which means “be opened”: may your ears be open and may your tongue be open.  This invitation is not just to the man in the story, but Jesus is speaking to us today.  We first received the ephphatha at our baptism, when we received the Holy Spirit and are called to “be open” to the Gospel message so that we can witness to it and proclaim it!  Brothers and sisters, we must be open to the Word of God: we need to listen, to ponder what it means, and then to live the Word by serving others.  Unfortunately, too many of our brethren are closed to the Word of God because they are listening to other voices and behaviorally they’re not really Christians but are functioning as baptized pagans.  A Christian must be open to the proclamation of the Word, which means to integrate It into the flow of one’s daily life. Interiorizing the Word of God will inevitably lead one to welcome your brothers and sisters into your life and to serve them.  This is why ephphatha, this “be open” is a challenge to us to open ourselves. 

            The question is: do we want to hear the Word of God and allow the Word to shape us?  For that to happen, we need to be hearers of the Word.  We need to be listeners of God’s Word on a daily basis!  God should be the Center of our lives, which entails that we listen to God daily, not just intermittingly.  But we resist.  What’s our problem spiritually?  WE DON’T LISTEN!  We are deaf.  We’ve lost our capacity to discern God speaking to us. 

            Why don’t we hear the Word of God?  One reason is that there are so many voices, so many vacuous sounds competing for our attention.  Just think of TV, commercials, the social internet, cable news, etc. incessantly competing for our attention.  We just get used to this wall of “white noise” that comes to us 24/7.  In fact, we become dependent upon that noise, even addicted to it.  Our smartphones will even give us an updates as to how many hours per day, we’ve spent on our devices.

            Getting back to the story, did you notice that Jesus took the man aside, far from the crowd and the attendant noise.  Being one-on-one with the man, Jesus can address him without interference.  How important is this gesture!  One reason we cannot hear the Word of God is that we spend too much time in the crowd—the noisy, busy voices of so many, the received conventional wisdom of our pagan/secular culture.  We have to be introduced to a new environment, a new milieu where we’re able to go into the Quiet to hear the Word of God clearly.  As the Psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:11).  Jesus is leading us away from the crowd and into the life of the Church, which has a new way of thinking, seeing, imagining, and hearing.

            When we hear Jesus say to us Ephphatha, “be opened,” we will experience that our deafness and speech have been cured.  When we do hear clearly, we will begin to speak clearly.  What’s the key to becoming a disciple of Christ Jesus, which necessarily entails becoming an evangelist?  It’s to listen!  It is to become plugged into Jesus and through Him to the Father.  Through our rich interior life, through the proclamation of the Word and through the Eucharist, we begin to hear God’s speech and then we can speak clearly, articulately, and confidently.

            May the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was open to hearing the Word which became flesh in her, help us every day to listen to her Son in the Gospel and to our brothers and sisters with a docile heart, with a patient heart, and with an attentive heart.  Amen. 

Reflection Questions:

1. How do you experience being “deaf” to the Word of God?  Are you able to proclaim the Word clearly, articulately, and confidently?
2. Do you want to hear the Word of God and allow the Word to shape you? 
3. Do you take the time to be with Jesus one-on-one so that He can speak clearly to you?