Speak Lord, your servant is listening

Homily for Ordinary Time – 23^rd Sunday Year B 2015

Isaiah 35:4-7; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37

Introduction

How do Catholics with hearing and speech impediments go to confession?  Without being able to speak, how do they express their sorrow?  Without being able to hear how do they understand that God has forgiven them?

It goes without saying, that not having use of any of our senses causes very practical difficulties not just in our daily life but also in our spiritual lives.

Scripture and Theology

That is why in the Bible, curing the blind, the deaf, the mute was always a great sign of God's favour.

In our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, he is writing to the Jewish people who are in exile.  They have given up hope because what God had promised them, that they would be a prosperous nation, has been withdrawn; they are now an enslaved people.  Isaiah tries to lift up their spirits, to give them a message of hope, that their liberation is around the corner.  And how will they know that their liberation has arrived?  Isaiah says at that time: ". . . the eyes of the blind [will] be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, the tongue of the mute will sing."

These images made sense for them.  They understood that people who cannot hear and speak, are often cut off from basic forms of communication and conversation, which help to form relationships and friendships.  Even worse, they are often wrongly assumed to be less intelligent, since they are not able to show their intelligence in the usual ways.  And so they could certainly imagine the joy of a blind woman who sees the beautiful flowers for the first time, or a deaf mother hearing the first sounds from her baby and a mute husband saying "I love you" to his wife for the very first time. 

But the Prophet Isaiah was only making a promise.  Jesus fulfils that promise.  Throughout the gospels we hear Jesus healing people of their blindness, deafness and muteness.  In today's gospel we have Jesus heal "a deaf man who had a speech impediment."  We heard that the man begun to speak plainly immediately.  We can imagine the joy of this man, when he went back home to his family and heard their voices for the first time and spoke to them for the very first time.  And so, this miracle must have meant a lot for this man and his family.

Without taking away from the joy of this man, we have to realize that his miracle is not really about him.  In Matthew Chapter 12 Jesus says that his miracles are signs that the Kingdom of God is at hand, just like Isaiah had prophesied.  Also, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, when John the Baptist sends messengers to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah, this is how Jesus responds: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Lk. 7:22).

And so, the healing of the deaf man with the speech impediment is part of this wider plan of God.  God is revealing his love and power to men and women in this very miracle of Jesus.  Beyond its physical meaning, the miracle also has a spiritual meaning, for those who saw it and for us read about it.

Like this man has had his hearing and speech restored, Jesus has come to restore spiritual hearing and speech to us.  Before becoming Christians, we are deaf and dumb.  When we become Christians in baptism, our inner hearing and speech is restored.  In fact there is an optional part of the Rite of Baptism that signifies this new hearing and speaking of the baptized person.  It is called the ephphetha rite, the word Jesus used in the gospel to open the man’s ears and speech.  In this rite, the priest touches the ears and mouth of the child or adult being baptized and prays that the Lord will touch "your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father."

Christian Life

As baptised people, you and I not only have full use of our physical hearing and speech, but we also our spiritual hearing and speech faculties.  Unfortunately, sometimes we don't hear well what God has to say to us, much less are able to speak it.  The nature of our hearing deficit is different for each of us.  I have three friends with some varying degrees of hearing impairment.

The first one, a seventy-five old lady, has lost much of her hearing and so she uses a hearing aid.  This device has various settings, one for the phone, one for ordinary conversation, and the lowest volume, she reserves that for her husband.

How do you and I use the hearing aids that God has given us in Word and Sacraments?  These hearing aids are there for the taking; it is up to us to use them well and calibrate them according to our needs.  For example, we come to Mass to maintain our communion with God and with his Church; when we break that communion by sin, we can use the aid of confession to restore it; when we are sick, we can be strengthened and healed by the the Sacrament of the Sick, and in God's Word, he has something to say just about every aspect of our lives.

My second friend is an older gentleman, who has lost some hearing in one ear.  But like a stubborn mule, he refuses to get a hearing aid.  So when they go out to dinner, his wife often sits on the side of the good ear, if they are to have any meaningful conversation.  But I have occasionally also observed her sitting on the side of the bad ear, when she wants some quiet.

Don't we sometimes like my friend refuse to approach some of the sacraments, because we are happy with the half that we already have?  Yes, you come to Church on Sunday and you say your private prayers, but when is the last time you made an examination of conscience and went to confession?  Yes you have a good family life, but have you explored getting an annulment so that you can have your marriage blessed by the Sacrament of Matrimony?

My third friend is a teenager.  Her hearing works just fine.  But often she will tell her mother, "Mom, I hear you, but I am not listening."

Like this teenager, there is nothing stopping us from hearing and listening to what God has to say.  And there is plenty that he has to say to us, especially in the world that we live in today.

·        We hear about all the violence in the world, wars in the many countries, violent crime in our cities, and the recent spate of unprovoked attacks against police officers; but are we listening to God's message of peace, reconciliation and non-violence?

·        This past week we have heard Pope Francis reminding us to take advantage of God's mercy, even widening the possibilities for those who have committed the sin of abortion to be forgiven?  But are we listening?

Conclusion

There is a special ministry to the deaf and mute Catholics at Blessed Seelos Parish (not the Shrine) in the Bywater area of New Orleans.  Not only do they have Mass with the homily translated to them using sign language, but they also join in the prayers and the singing using sign language.  And for confession, when they come to a priest like me who does not use sign language, they will usually come with a list of sins written on a piece of paper or they will check off from a list of commandments, the sins that they have committed.  After they have signed the act of contrition, the priest will read the formula of absolution from a piece of paper as the penitent follows along.

Not even their physical deafness and muteness will stop these Catholics from approaching the sacraments to take care of their spiritual needs.  What about us who have full hearing and speech, what is stopping us?