He Has Done All Things Well
Introduction: May you respond to GOD’s invitation to be open to all
that the Lord Jesus has for you, both the gifts that He desires to bestow on you
and the deeds He desires you to do, especially for the needy around you.
Many people
see the importance of having some sort of connection with people who are in the
limelight. It may be having autographs or pictures from and with famous people.
If they have the privilege of actually having athletic personalities or known actors
as friends, even distant friends, they think that having those connections makes
them more important in the eyes of others.
The Lord
Jesus challenges us to reach out and touch some of the children of His Abba-Father,
especially those most in need of our help. We are asked to care for those who will
not be able to repay us or bring us more attention. Are we willing to care for GOD’s
loved ones, the poor and disabled, the disenfranchised and lowly?
GOD loves
all people, yet the blessings GOD gives seem, in some ways to be preferential. Our
First Reading describes how GOD will bless those who are suffering in exile, as
opposed to those who live in more affluent and prosperous ways. The psalm reiterates
this theme by portraying the deeds GOD performs for the outcasts, disenfranchised,
and disabled. In today’s reading from the Letter of James, the author is quite emphatic
in condemning the favoring of the rich and famous over the poor and lowly. In the
Gospel, Jesus reaches out to an apparent non-Jew who suffers from not being able
to hear or speak correctly.
First Reading Isaiah 35:4-7: The
blind shall see, the deaf hear, the dumb sing for joy
Commentary:
While
Israel was still in being, the Day of the Lord was a threat, a day of expected
punishment. Once the axe of the Babylonian exile had fallen, and disaster had
come upon the whole of Israel and Judah, the Day of the Lord becomes a promise
of salvation. Hence this lovely, joyful poem, looks forward to the coming of
the Lord to heal Israel and take vengeance on her tormentors. It looks forward
to the coming of the Lord himself, not of his representative. We call it
‘messianic’, as though it concerned the coming of the Lord’s anointed. But in
the expectation of the deliverance of Israel, even up to the time of Jesus, it
was not clear whether God would visit the earth personally (whatever that would
mean) to effect the total reversal of all things and the healing of all misery,
or whether his messenger and herald would come first. In the late prophecies of
Malachi, not long before the Incarnation, the prophet Elijah will come as the
Lord’s herald, to prepare the way. So was John the Baptist this Elijah-figure,
preparing for Jesus? Or is Jesus preparing for the Lord? Or is the coming of
Jesus the coming of the Lord?
Responsorial Psalm 146:7-10: My soul, give praise to the
Lord.
The psalmist
presents GOD as the One Who reaches out to the Anawim (literally “those
who are bent over” or “those who are crushed” – the physical, social, and financial
outcasts). GOD brings healing to those who are sick, protects those who are without
the normal means of protection, and lifts up the poor and lowly.
Second Reading James 2:1-5: God chose the poor according
to the world to be rich in faith
Commentary:
The
Letter of James has been described as ‘a manifesto for social justice’, and
among all its pieces of advice, this is certainly a strong emphasis. Concern
for the poor and the less fortunate runs right through the Bible. Human beings
were created in the image of God, and this is one of the ways in which this
image must be expressed. So Israel is constantly told, ‘You must treat the
stranger among you as I treated you when you were strangers in Egypt’.
Similarly, widows and orphans are the special object of God’s care. In the
beatitudes of Luke’s gospel the poor, the hungry, and those who weep are
assured of God’s blessing. In more modern times the great Papal Encyclicals on
social issues gave the first official teaching anywhere on the rights of
exploited classes after the Industrial Revolution, the right to a just wage, to
health care, to form trade unions, and so on. However, it is always instinctive
and natural – as this witty and poignant reading shows – to give more
honour to the Lord Mayor at the front than to the tramp who shuffles in at the
back of the Church, forgetting that in God’s eyes, they have just the same
value.
Gospel Mark 7:31-37: 'He makes the deaf hear and the
dumb speak'
Commentary:
The
roundabout route taken by Jesus from Sidon to the Lake via the Decapolis is
often used to claim that the evangelist Mark did not himself know the Holy
Land. On the other hand, the reliability of the tradition behind the story is
confirmed by the Aramaic word ‘Ephphatha’. The gospel tradition received its
present form in Greek-speaking lands, which makes it all the more remarkable
that there remain such nuggets of Jesus’ own language.
Jesus’
activity as he goes around ‘doing all things well’ is the coming of God into
the world, the Day of the Lord when the tongues of the dumb will sing for joy.
Jesus is the sacrament of God. In him God is active in the world, bringing
peace, healing, and joy. In him, people met and experienced God. His gestures
of putting his fingers into the man’s ears and touching his tongue with spittle
are affectionate ways of showing that God is physically at work in him. In a
modern hygiene-conscious world such gestures might be frowned upon. But if we
are truly acting as members of Christ’s body in the world we cannot hold back,
and from time to time will be involved physically and totally in helping
others. We too can bring Christ’s healing in countless simple, but often costly
and courageous, ways.
Reflection: How do
you expect the Lord Jesus to treat you when you ask for his help? Do you
approach with fear and doubt, or with faith and confidence? Jesus never turned
anyone aside who approached him with sincerity and trust. And whatever Jesus
did, he did well. He demonstrated both the beauty and goodness of God in his
actions.
The
Lord's touch awakens faith and brings healing: When Jesus
approaches a man who is both deaf and a stutterer, Jesus shows his
considerateness for this man's predicament. Jesus takes him aside privately, no
doubt to remove him from embarrassment with a noisy crowd of gawkers
(onlookers). Jesus then puts his fingers into the deaf man's ears and he
touches the man's tongue with his own spittle to physically identify with this
man's infirmity and to awaken faith in him. With a word of command, the poor
man's ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
What is
the significance of Jesus putting his fingers into the man's ears? Gregory the
Great, a church father from the 6th century, comments on this miracle:
"The Spirit is called the finger of God. When the Lord puts his fingers
into the ears of the deaf-mute, he was opening the soul of man to faith through
the gifts of the Holy Spirit."
The
transforming power of kindness and compassion: The
people's response to this miracle testifies to Jesus' great care for others: He
has done all things well. No problem or burden was too much for Jesus' careful
consideration. The Lord treats each of us with kindness and compassion and he
calls us to treat one another in like manner. The Holy Spirit who dwells within
us enables us to love as Jesus loves. Do you show kindness and compassion to
your neighbors and do you treat them with considerateness as Jesus did?
Lord
Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and inflame my heart with love and
compassion. Make me attentive to the needs of others so that I may show them
kindness and care. Make me an instrument of your mercy and peace so that I may
help others find healing and wholeness in you.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The touch of the Lord, by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD): "That power which may not be handled came down and clothed itself in members that may be touched, that the desperate may draw near to him, that in touching his humanity they may discern his divinity. For that speechless man, the Lord healed with the fingers of his body. He put his fingers into the man's ears and touched his tongue. At that moment with fingers that may be touched, he touched the Godhead that may not be touched. Immediately this loosed the string of his tongue (Mark 7:32-37) and opened the clogged doors of his ears. For the very architect of the body itself and artificer of all flesh had come personally to him, and with his gentle voice tenderly opened up his obstructed ears. Then his mouth which had been so closed up that it could not give birth to a word, gave birth to praise him who made its barrenness fruitful. The One who immediately had given to Adam speech without teaching, gave speech to him so that he could speak easily a language that is learned only with difficulty (Genesis 1:27-28). (excerpt from HOMILY ON OUR LORD 10.3)
Fruit
of the lips (see heb 13:15): Jesus “put His fingers into the man’s ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue.” —Mark 7:33. Jesus’ gestures of inserting
his fingers into a deaf-mute man’s ears and touching the man’s tongue seem
foreign to our modern, antiseptic culture (Mk 7:33). Yet if you’re baptized,
you experienced the touch of Jesus in a similar way. At Baptism, the priest or
deacon touched your ears and lips, praying that God would open your ears to
hear His Word and your lips to proclaim it.
Before
Jesus touched the deaf-mute, “He looked up to heaven and emitted a groan. He
said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’ (that is, ‘Be opened!’) At once, the man’s ears were
opened; he was freed from the impediment, and began to speak plainly” (Mk
7:34-35). Jesus is still the same today (Heb 13:8). He’s still groaning and
praying that our ears and mouths would be open to the Word of God.
Years of
listening to loud music results in a gradual loss of hearing. Likewise, years
of listening to the noise and voices of the world causes our spiritual hearing
to decay. Repent of any spiritual deafness or muteness. Allow Jesus to take you
off by yourself, away from the hubbub of the world that crowds around you (Mk
7:33; cf Mt 6:6). Let Him touch you anew and renew your baptismal innocence.
“Be opened!” (Mk 7:34)
Prayer: Jesus, whenever I cross myself as I
hear the Gospel proclaimed at Mass, touch my forehead, lips, and heart as You
touched the deaf-mute. Open my lips to speak Your Word. “Did not God choose
those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of
the kingdom He promised to those who love Him?” —Jas 2:5. Praise Jesus, Who was
obedient unto death and was raised up on the third day (1 Cor 15:4). All glory
be to God forever.
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary: The Church has celebrated Mary’s birth since at least the sixth century.
A September birth was chosen because the Eastern Church begins its Church year with
September. The September 8 date helped determine the date for the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception on December 8.
Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s birth.
However, the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James fills in the gap. This work
has no historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety.
According to this account, Anna and Joachim are infertile but pray for a child.
They receive the promise of a child who will advance God’s plan of salvation for
the world. Such a story, like many biblical counterparts, stresses the special presence
of God in Mary’s life from the beginning.
Saint Augustine connects Mary’s birth with Jesus’ saving
work. He tells the earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. “She
is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through
her birth, the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.” The opening
prayer at Mass speaks of the birth of Mary’s Son as the dawn of our salvation and
asks for an increase of peace.
We can see every human birth as a call for new hope
in the world. The love of two human beings has joined with God in his creative work.
The loving parents have shown hope in a world filled with travail. The new child
has the potential to be a channel of God’s love and peace to the world. This is
all true in a magnificent way in Mary. If Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s
love, Mary is the foreshadowing of that love. If Jesus has brought the fullness
of salvation, Mary is its dawning. Birthday celebrations bring happiness to the
celebrant as well as to family and friends. Next to the birth of Jesus, Mary’s birth
offers the greatest possible happiness to the world. Each time we celebrate her
birth, we can confidently hope for an increase of peace in our hearts and in the
world at large.
The personal
action for today: Do I show partiality or preferential treatment to others?
Am I biased in my dealings with others? If I am, do I show more concern for the
Anawim – the poor and disenfranchised – as the Lord Jesus shows? How
can I be more aware of those who need my assistance? Who could most benefit from
my complete attention to their concerns? What can I do to help others be more attentive
to the needy among us?