Fr. Wilfredo M. Samson, SJ
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 6, 2015
In many parts of the gospel narratives, one of the things that attracted Jesus to heal someone was the people’s manifestation of their faith. It is true that Jesus has a heart for those who are sick and suffering, but also, he has a high regard to anyone who exhibits remarkable faith, and to anyone who has a heart for the sick and the lonely.
In our gospel today, Jesus quickly responded to cure a deaf-mute man when Jesus saw the faith and deep concern of his friends. Jesus saw their great faith and felt their compassion. He saw their heart’s deepest desire – the cure of their beloved friend. Their great love for their sick friend compelled them to aggressively seek Jesus for healing. Indeed, love never gives up. Love would always seek solutions, even to the most difficult challenges that life may bring. For love knows no rest until pain completely disappears.
Another compelling reason for the immediate healing was the deaf-mute’s grave emotional condition. Jesus must have felt the sick man’s deep pain of rejection and loneliness, due to his inability to communicate with his friends. The deaf-mute man wanted to hear the voices of his friends, but to no avail. He also wanted to communicate his thoughts, but since he was partially mute, he was unable to do so. This sad situation was indeed very frustrating, depressing and dehumanizing. Thus he felt totally isolated, marginalized and rejected from the rest of the community.
Having felt the inner struggle of the deaf-mute man, and his great admiration to his friends who showed deep faith in God, Jesus was compelled to heal the man in a special way. It was unusual for Jesus to heal someone away from the crowd. Jesus would always heal people in public. But this one was an extra special case. Instead of healing the man in public, Jesus gave the man a special private session.
But why such special treatment? Jesus knew, perhaps, that the only way to restore the deaf-mute’s self-respect and dignity was through a special care. He needed special attention – to let him feel he was important in the eyes of God – that he was not just someone in the crowd. And to fully stress his point, Jesus did a first class healing procedure. He touched the sick man’s ears and tongue with His fingers – signifying a special healing. With such deliberate action, Jesus was indirectly telling the deaf-mute, “Child, you are precious in God’s eyes.”
The special healing performed by Jesus to the deaf-mute is very consoling. It leads us to reflect and understand two important lessons:
First, Jesus is willing to offer a special healing to anyone who is spiritually deaf and mute. He wants us to listen to His Words without any obstructions. He also wants us to boldly proclaim the Good News to everybody. But in order to experience God’s healing, we need to be alone with Jesus, meet Him in silence, allow Him to put his fingers in our ears and tongue and let him say “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened.”
Second, the gospel compels us to evaluate our ability to care for those in need. Like Jesus, cura personalis is the best mode of intervention. Am I willing to leave my comfort zones and help those who are in need? In our world today where we are becoming insensitive and uncharitable to others, it is good to beg Jesus to give us healthy ears so that we can listen well to one another.
Pause for a while. Enter into silence. Ask God to touch your ears with his fingers. Beg him to say the healing words, “Be Opened!” For it is impossible to boldly proclaim the words of God, unless we allow the words of God to dwell into our hearts, disturb us and transform our lives.