1st Reading – Isaiah 35:4-7A Thus says the LORD: 4 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.
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared;
6 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.
7 The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10 R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul! or: R. Alleluia.
6 The God of Jacob keeps faith forever, 7 secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free. R. Praise the Lord, my soul! or: R. Alleluia.
8 The LORD gives sight to the blind; the LORD raises up those who were bowed down. The LORD loves the just; 9A the LORD protects strangers. R. Praise the Lord, my soul! or: R. Alleluia.
9B The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. 10 The LORD shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. R. Praise the Lord, my soul! or: R. Alleluia.
Second reading from the Letter of James 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 OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Mark Mk 7:31-37
Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 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.”
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER Too often the sick and the suffering become a problem, while they should be an occasion to show a society’s concern and solidarity with regard to the weakest. Jesus revealed to us the secret of a miracle that we too can imitate, becoming protagonists of “Ephphatha”, of that phrase ‘be opened’ with which He gave speech and hearing back to the man who before could not hear or speak. It means opening ourselves to the needs of our brothers and sisters who are suffering and in need of help, by shunning selfishness and hardheartedness. It is precisely the heart, that is the deep core of the person, that Jesus came to “open”, to free, in order to make us capable of fully living the relationship with God and with others. (Angelus, 9 September 2018)
S. FAUSTI - "EPHPHATHA, that is, open up you," Jesus said to the deaf mute. And the closed ear opens to hear his voice, the bound tongue unravels to say the word that saves. God is invisible. Every image we make of him is an idol. The only true Saint Voult is that of the Son who listens to him. The word distinguishes man from animals. It does not belong to a specific species, but determines its species by what it means. Indeed, by its nature, it is not what is, but what it becomes; and it becomes the word to which the ear lends its ear and gives its answer. God is the Word, communication and self-giving. Man is first an ear, then a tongue. By listening to him, he is able to answer him: he enters into dialogue with him and becomes his partner united to him and similar to him. The Judeo-Christian religion, even if it loves the book, is not a fetishism of the letter. And "the religion of the word and listening, that is, of communion with the One who speaks. For that to be deaf and dumb is the greatest evil. In the previous chapter, she "heard" Jesus, and "she said" the word that saves. The disciples still have ears and still do not hear. They have a hard heart unable to understand bread and profess. "It is the Lord! ". It is the penultimate miracle of the first part of the Gospel and the third last of all. Only two healings of blindness follow. First there is listening to the word, then there is the illumination of faith. Those who remain deaf, cannot see. Only the heart can hear the truth of what you see. Like all miracles, too, even more explicitly than others, it means what the Lord wants to do in each listener. We are all deaf, selective at his word. As creatures, we only give what we receive, so let's just say what we have listened to. Jesus is the doctor, who came to give us the ability to listen and dialogue with him... The messianic secret is going to dissolve, because its bread puts us today, unequivocally, in front of its truth. But no one understands it anymore or sees it. He only has to cure our deafness and recognized blindness. In this story, we also see the stages of our journey of faith. Everyone is called to follow personally with Jesus the same path of the people of Israel, represented in this deaf stammering deaf man... Jesus is proclaimed as the one who "has made all things beautiful: makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak." The second declaration clearly recognizes him as the Savior and Messiah, while the first secretly recognizes him as the Creator God, who did everything and saw that it was beautiful. The disciple, like everyone else, is devouring chatter, but deaf and without expression before the Word that makes him man. Jesus healed him so that he can be part of the people who hear and respond to Him who says: "Listen, Israel..." (Dt 6,4)
E. RONCHI - They brought a deaf-mute to Jesus. A man who was a prisoner of silence, a life without words or music, but who did not make shipwreck, because he was welcomed into a circle of friends who cared for him: and they led him to Jesus. Healing begins when someone puts their hand to the very human art of accompaniment.
And they begged Him to lay His hand on him. But Jesus does much more, it is not enough for Him to impose His hands in a hieratic gesture, He wants to show the surplus and the closeness of God: He took him aside, far from the crowd: "You and I alone, now only you count and, for this time, nothing is more important than you". I imagine them eyes in eyes, and Jesus taking that face in His hands.
Very bodily and delicate gestures follow: Jesus placed His fingers on the deaf man's ears. Fingers: like the sculptor delicately shaping the clay he has molded. Like a caress. There are no words, only the tenderness of gestures.
Then He touched her tongue with His saliva. An intimate, involving gesture: I give you something of mine, something that is in the mouth of man, together with the breath and the word, symbols of life.
Gospel of contacts, of smells, of tastes. Physical contact did not displease Jesus, on the contrary. And bodies become a holy place of encounter with the Lord, a laboratory of the Kingdom. Salvation is not extraneous to bodies, it passes through them, which are not paths of evil but "divine shortcuts" (J.P.Sonnet),
Looking up to heaven, he let out a sigh. A sigh is not a cry that expresses power, it is not a sob, but the breath of hope, calm and humble, the sigh of the prisoner (Ps 102:21), and Jesus is also a prisoner with that man.
And He said to him, Effata, open up! In Aramaic, in the dialect of the house, in the language of the mother, starting from the roots: open yourself, as one opens a door to a guest, a window to the sun, arms to love. Open yourself to others and to God, even with your wounds, through which life comes out and life goes in. If you open your door, life comes.
A healed life is one that opens to others: and immediately his ears were opened, the knot in his tongue was loosened, and he spoke correctly. Ears first. Because the first service to be rendered to God and man is always listening. If you don't know how to listen, you lose the word, become dumb or speak without touching anyone's heart. Perhaps the aphasia of the Church today depends on the fact that we no longer know how to listen, to God and to man. An eloquent detail: only those who know how to listen can speak. This is a gift that we must ask tirelessly, for the deaf-mute in us: give us, Lord, a heart that listens (cf. 1 Kings 3:9). Then thoughts and words will be born that resound of heaven.
1st Reading – Isaiah 35:4-7A
RispondiEliminaThus says the LORD:
4 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.
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared;
6 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.
7 The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
6 The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,
7 secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
8 The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
9A the LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
9B The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
10 The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Second reading from the Letter of James
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 OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Mark
Mk 7:31-37
Again Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
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.”
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
RispondiEliminaToo often the sick and the suffering become a problem, while they should be an occasion to show a society’s concern and solidarity with regard to the weakest. Jesus revealed to us the secret of a miracle that we too can imitate, becoming protagonists of “Ephphatha”, of that phrase ‘be opened’ with which He gave speech and hearing back to the man who before could not hear or speak. It means opening ourselves to the needs of our brothers and sisters who are suffering and in need of help, by shunning selfishness and hardheartedness. It is precisely the heart, that is the deep core of the person, that Jesus came to “open”, to free, in order to make us capable of fully living the relationship with God and with others. (Angelus, 9 September 2018)
S. FAUSTI - "EPHPHATHA, that is, open up you," Jesus said to the deaf mute. And the closed ear opens to hear his voice, the bound tongue unravels to say the word that saves.
RispondiEliminaGod is invisible. Every image we make of him is an idol.
The only true Saint Voult is that of the Son who listens to him.
The word distinguishes man from animals. It does not belong to a specific species, but determines its species by what it means.
Indeed, by its nature, it is not what is, but what it becomes;
and it becomes the word to which the ear lends its ear and gives its answer.
God is the Word, communication and self-giving.
Man is first an ear, then a tongue. By listening to him, he is able to answer him: he enters into dialogue with him and becomes his partner united to him and similar to him.
The Judeo-Christian religion, even if it loves the book, is not a fetishism of the letter.
And "the religion of the word and listening, that is, of communion with the One who speaks.
For that to be deaf and dumb is the greatest evil. In the previous chapter, she "heard" Jesus,
and "she said" the word that saves. The disciples still have ears and still do not hear. They have a hard heart unable to understand bread and profess. "It is the Lord! ".
It is the penultimate miracle of the first part of the Gospel and the third last of all. Only two healings of blindness follow. First there is listening to the word, then there is the illumination of faith.
Those who remain deaf, cannot see. Only the heart can hear the truth of what you see.
Like all miracles, too, even more explicitly than others, it means what the Lord wants to do in each listener. We are all deaf, selective at his word.
As creatures, we only give what we receive, so let's just say what we have listened to.
Jesus is the doctor, who came to give us the ability to listen and dialogue with him...
The messianic secret is going to dissolve, because its bread puts us today, unequivocally, in front of its truth. But no one understands it anymore or sees it. He only has to cure our deafness and recognized blindness.
In this story, we also see the stages of our journey of faith.
Everyone is called to follow personally with Jesus the same path of the people of Israel, represented in this deaf stammering deaf man...
Jesus is proclaimed as the one who "has made all things beautiful: makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."
The second declaration clearly recognizes him as the Savior and Messiah, while the first secretly recognizes him as the Creator God, who did everything and saw that it was beautiful.
The disciple, like everyone else, is devouring chatter, but deaf and without expression before the Word that makes him man.
Jesus healed him so that he can be part of the people who hear and respond to Him who says:
"Listen, Israel..." (Dt 6,4)
E. RONCHI - They brought a deaf-mute to Jesus. A man who was a prisoner of silence, a life without words or music, but who did not make shipwreck, because he was welcomed into a circle of friends who cared for him: and they led him to Jesus. Healing begins when someone puts their hand to the very human art of accompaniment.
RispondiEliminaAnd they begged Him to lay His hand on him. But Jesus does much more, it is not enough for Him to impose His hands in a hieratic gesture, He wants to show the surplus and the closeness of God: He took him aside, far from the crowd: "You and I alone, now only you count and, for this time, nothing is more important than you". I imagine them eyes in eyes, and Jesus taking that face in His hands.
Very bodily and delicate gestures follow: Jesus placed His fingers on the deaf man's ears. Fingers: like the sculptor delicately shaping the clay he has molded. Like a caress. There are no words, only the tenderness of gestures.
Then He touched her tongue with His saliva. An intimate, involving gesture: I give you something of mine, something that is in the mouth of man, together with the breath and the word, symbols of life.
Gospel of contacts, of smells, of tastes. Physical contact did not displease Jesus, on the contrary. And bodies become a holy place of encounter with the Lord, a laboratory of the Kingdom. Salvation is not extraneous to bodies, it passes through them, which are not paths of evil but "divine shortcuts" (J.P.Sonnet),
Looking up to heaven, he let out a sigh. A sigh is not a cry that expresses power, it is not a sob, but the breath of hope, calm and humble, the sigh of the prisoner (Ps 102:21), and Jesus is also a prisoner with that man.
And He said to him, Effata, open up! In Aramaic, in the dialect of the house, in the language of the mother, starting from the roots: open yourself, as one opens a door to a guest, a window to the sun, arms to love. Open yourself to others and to God, even with your wounds, through which life comes out and life goes in. If you open your door, life comes.
A healed life is one that opens to others: and immediately his ears were opened, the knot in his tongue was loosened, and he spoke correctly. Ears first. Because the first service to be rendered to God and man is always listening. If you don't know how to listen, you lose the word, become dumb or speak without touching anyone's heart. Perhaps the aphasia of the Church today depends on the fact that we no longer know how to listen, to God and to man. An eloquent detail: only those who know how to listen can speak. This is a gift that we must ask tirelessly, for the deaf-mute in us: give us, Lord, a heart that listens (cf. 1 Kings 3:9). Then thoughts and words will be born that resound of heaven.