Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading
I
Is 35:4-7a
Thus says the LORD:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
Responsorial
Psalm
Ps 146:7, 8-9,
9-10
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading
II
Jas 2:1-5
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality
as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes
comes into your assembly,
and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes
and say, "Sit here, please,"
while you say to the poor one, "Stand there," or "Sit at my
feet,"
have you not made distinctions among yourselves
and become judges with evil designs?
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
that he promised to those who love him?
Gospel
Mk 7:31-37
Again Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of
into the district of the
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man's ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
"Ephphatha!"--that is, "Be opened!"--
And immediately the man's ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
"He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Commentary
In
today’s First Reading taken from chapter 35 of Isaiah, is part of an
Posteexilic Oracle regarding the deliverance of
In the
Second Reading, the writer describes a meeting in the church where favoritism is
shown to successful and influential people.
Just as Paul insisted on God’s lack of favoritism in both judgment and
in election (see Rom 2:11; 3:22; 10:12), James also attacks this type of
behavior, arguing that it is wrong: God is impartial to all and all have an
equal status within the Church. The
attack against this type of behavior centers on the way Christians evaluate rich
and poor. In the Old Testament,
wealth is seen as a sign of God’s blessing and favor, but the Christian
tradition calls sees the poor as being “blessed” (Matt 5:3) and God’s
favorites (Luke 1:50-53). The Church
is therefore called to witness to the faith it professes: as God is impartial,
calls all to life, and favors the poor, orphans, and widows, so the Church must
become of mirror of God.
The story of the deaf-mute points
back to the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman, because the deaf-mute also comes
from a non-Jewish part of
For Mark, Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of all Isaiah's prophecies. He was the promised Messiah who healed the deaf, the mute, and the blind. He was also the innocent one who suffered on behalf of his people. For Mark and his readers, Jesus is the one who asks all to follow him and care for his people until there are no longer any sick or hurting. However, those who take up this challenge must know that in their healing service to others they will also experience the same pain that Jesus experienced.
Reflection
In Spanish there’s a saying that goes: “No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver”. It literally means that there is no greater blind person than the one who does not want to see. In the same way, there is no greater “deaf” person than those who refuse to hear. Today’s First reading and Gospel are the sign of the coming of God’s Kingdom and his Messiah (Christ; anointed one). It should be a time of rejoicing, yet between both of these wonderful stories of hope, the Second reading taken from the letter of James brings to the forefront another reality: the budding Christian community was having problems precisely because they closed their ears and subsequently their hearts to God’s Word. The arrival of the Messiah and God's kingdom would be signaled by the wondrous signs spoken of by the prophet Isaiah and fulfilled through Jesus. But what the prophet proclaimed "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared" implies much more than just the physical healing that took place in today's Gospel story, it is something that transcends the physical reality of the world we live in.
Being able to hear does not necessarily mean we listen to God's Word. As I said before, you can hear and still be deaf. This is precisely what happened to the Christian community of James. Many of the members of this community had become deaf to Jesus' message of salvation for all regardless of the socio-economic status or any other differences or situations that may have existed among its members. But deafness to the Gospel message can go even further. Our faith which has been transmitted to us through countless generations is the result of endless study and meditation on behalf of many faithful followers of Jesus. The Church, through its Magisterium which treasures, studies, and meditates on God's Word, teaches us the truth of our faith in accordance with God's divine plan. It continues to do today what Jesus did 2000 years ago, deliver God's message. However, many Catholics refuse to listen - they become deaf. Just like those who "turned a deaf ear" to Jesus because they disliked what he said, many people today do the same. How many times has the Church explained the "why" of its position against abortion, artificial methods of contraception, pre-marital sex, etc.? Do we listen or do we "turn a deaf ear" because the Church's message is outdated and not in accordance with my lifestyle?
God's message is eternal. It
has the same validity today as it did when it was written thousands of years
ago, because despite all our advances in culture and technology, we continue to
be the same and our weakness have not changed. The Church which was
entrusted by Jesus to continue his saving work on earth, will continue to
deliver God's message to all weather or not they decide to hear, and the message
will not change because it doesn't "fit-in" with today's world.
As a wise priest once said to me: "what is wrong continues to be wrong
even if everyone does it; and what is right continues to be right even if nobody
does it".
Biblical Sources
New American Bible; Brown, R. K., and Comfort, P. W. (trans.) and Douglas, J. D., (ed.) “The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament”; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Jensen, J., O.S.B., and Irwin, W.H., “Commentary on Isaiah 1-39”; Davids, P., “Commentary on James”; Leahy, T. W., S.J., Commenatry “The Epistle of James”; Kingsbury, J. D., “The Christology of Mark’s Gospel”; Schweizer, E., “The Good News According to Mark”; Tuckett, C. (ed.), “The Messianic Secret”; “The Collegeville Bible Commentary”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary”.
Reflection
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa