Be opened!

23rd Sunday In Ordinary Time
06 September 2015

First reading	Isaiah 35:4-7 ©

Say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;
for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.

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Psalm	Psalm 145:6-10 ©

My soul, give praise to the Lord.orAlleluia!It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
  who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
  the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
My soul, give praise to the Lord.orAlleluia!It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
  who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
  and upholds the widow and orphan.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.orAlleluia!It is the Lord who loves the just
  but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
  Zion’s God, from age to age.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.orAlleluia!

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Second reading	James 2:1-5 ©

My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?
  Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

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Gospel Acclamation	1S3:9,Jn6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!

Or	cf.Mt4:23

Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among the people.
Alleluia!

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Gospel	Mark 7:31-37 ©

Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’

Reflection:

On this Sunday, we continue to hear the Gospel of Mark proclaimed. This is a story about Jesus' healing power. He heals a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment.

Also, today is the first Sunday of September. The “ber” months have started! Christmas is just around the corner, hear the carols on the radio soon. This early we can go on “linis bahay (house cleaning)” mode, i.e., unloading and emptying ourselves of sin and bad habits, so that there will be room for God in our hearts. Let us throw away shameful “baggages” that we have kept and accumulated through the years.

Let me share a story about a man who pretended to be deaf/mute to get people to pity him and give him money. The doctors could not find anything wrong with his ears even though he lived the life of a deaf and a mute man.

A massive search was launched after this man was reported missing from his home. After few days, his body was found in a ditch just 150 meters from his front door. The investigator said: "Either he didn't hear or didn't want to hear a speeding car coming. He was hit by the vehicle, fell to the ditch, slipped and drowned.”

Let us examine our “ears” in our journey to God’s heart. Are they new? Are they functioning at all or do we sometimes get “deaf”? Do we pretend that we cannot hear like the man in the story? Are our ears impaired by power, ambitions, and self-interests that we lose our soul in the process? And so focused on our problems that many of us fail to listen to the calling of our mission?

If we listen intently to the Lord in our prayer, we will end up not being uncaring, proud, imposing undesirable moods and traits to other people. If our relationship with the Lord has not made us a kinder and humble person, our spirituality then is just a make believe, a fantasy.

And as we travel our journey in life, let us proclaim the goodness of the Lord. Be a blessing to other people.

Prayer:

Lord, as You opened the ears of the deaf man, open our ears to hear the cries of the poor. As You removed the speech difficulty of the deaf man, give us the grace to speak of Your love to others. Let Your light penetrate into us, transforming ourselves and our attitude towards others. Amen.