23rd Sunday Ordinary (B)/Healing of a Deaf Man
    Is 35:4-7/ Ps 116 / Jas 2:1-5/ Mk 7:31-37
   
  Introduction
        Songs of the 1960’s were more meaningful. You can really feel every word of the songs. Nowadays songs are too loud that we can hardly understand their lyrics. In this present and loud generation, we never know who is deaf and who are not, whose ear need to be opened and whose not.  
   
  Background
  1. The use Greek word “Ephphatha!” (Be opened) have two meanings: (1) the gate of heaven was closed when Adam and Eve sinned. Christ’s coming “opened” its door for us once again. The healing of the deaf man tells us that God has worked to restore the perfection of creation in its original form. (2) The egoistic attitude of the Jews closed themselves from the world. They always thought that they were the chosen people of God, they alone deserve salvation. When Jesus’ came, “he opened” the doors of salvation to the Gentiles and to the rest of the world. They dealt with all people, rich and the poor alike  
  2. For Mark, Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of all the prophecies of Isaiah. When Jesus touched his tongue (in those days people believed that spittle had a curative quality) he fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah about the messiah. We heard in the first reading: the Messiah will offer words of comfort and strength to the poor and heal the sick – i.e., the blind, the deaf, the lame and the tongue-tied. In the second reading, James counteracts early Christian communities who associate themselves only with the rich and the powerful. For James, Jesus was the messiah who hears the voice of the poor and the weak.  
  3. During those days, it was more embarrassing to be a deaf man than it is to be blind. Deafness and speech impediment separate individuals from the community. If a man could not hear, then he could not hear God’s word. If he had a speech impediment, he could not praise God in the assembly. He was isolated, both spiritually and physically. This person couldn’t participate in the community. In healing this man, Jesus fully restored his relationship with God and to the rest of the community.  
     
  Reflections  
  1. “People brought him a deaf man”- the prayer of petition of the community is powerful. Praying for each other is man's greatest gift to a brother in great need.  
     
  2.  Jesus "touched" his tongue. May Jesus touch us by his words (in the bible and prayers) and may his "touch" loosen our tongues and open our ears to moral issues in our present society especially that of abortion and corruption.
  
       
  3. "Be opened" We have to be open to the suggestions and constructive criticisms of our friends. Some people open their ears only to the words they want to hear. Our pride should not close our ears from the inner voice of conscience.  
       
  4. Like the deaf man we should use our mouths in “praising and thanking the Lord,” (and not to using it to put others down). They (not only he), it’s the whole community who rejoiced when they saw Jesus healing the deaf man. We should rejoice, when the quality of life of our neighbors become better than us or officemates promoted faster we do. May no jealousy and envy, hinder our tongue from praising the Lord for his goodness. There should be no room for any “crab mentality” whenever we see from see many good things happened to other people.    
       
  5. The acclaim of the crowd, “He has done all things well,” means that Jesus performed not only physical healing but also spiritual healing. If Jesus wants deaf ears to hear, much more does he wants to deaf man to hear his voice in prayer. What Christ wants for us is a complete healing.  As St. Irenaeus would put: “The glory of God is man fully alive.”  
     
  Conclusion  
          We can not deny that many people still love the sweet romantic songs of the 60’s. That’s why it came back again in a different form; either through revivals or acoustic songs. We still believe that music is not a matter of the loudness of a song but a matter of a serenity of a heart.

         Sometimes it is not a question of being physically deaf or mute before you can hear things right. Oftentimes it only takes “an open heart” and “a peaceful soul” in order to hear the true voice of God coming from within.