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.”
The Gospel for today’s liturgy presents Jesus who heals a deaf man with a speech impediment. What is striking about this story is how the Lord performs this prodigious sign. He took the deaf man aside, put his finger into the man’s ears, and touched his tongue with saliva. Then he looked up to heaven, groaned, and said to him: “Ephphatha”, that is, “Be opened!” (cf Mk 7:33-34). In other healings, for infirmities as serious as paralysis or leprosy, Jesus did not do as many things. So why does he do all of this, even though they had only asked him to lay his hands on the sick man (cf. v.32)? Maybe it was because that person’s condition had a particularly symbolic value. The condition of deafness is also a symbol that can say something to all of us. What is this about? Deafness. That man was unable to speak because he could not hear. To heal the cause of his infirmity, Jesus, in fact, placed his fingers first of all in the man’s ears, then his mouth, but his ears first.
We all have ears, but very often we are not able to hear. Why is this? Brothers and sisters, there is an interior deafness that we can ask Jesus to touch and heal today. It is interior deafness, which is worse than physical deafness, because it is the deafness of the heart. Taken up with haste, by so many things to say and do, we do not find time to stop and listen to those who speak to us. We run the risk of becoming impervious to everything and not making room for those who need to be heard. I am thinking about children, young people, the elderly, the many who do not really need words and sermons, but to be heard. Let us ask ourselves: how is my capacity to listen going? Do I let myself be touched by people’s lives? Do I know how to spend time with those who are close to me in order to listen? This regards all of us, but in a special way also priests. The priest must listen to people, not in a rushed way, but listen and see how he can help, but after having listened. And all of us: first listen, then respond. Think about family life: how many times do we talk without listening first, repeating the same things, always the same things! Incapable of listening, we always say the same things, or we do not let the other person finish talking, expressing themselves, and we interrupt them. Starting a dialogue often happens not through words but silence, by not insisting, by patiently beginning anew to listen to others, hearing about their struggles and what they carry inside. The healing of the heart begins with listening. Listening. This is what restores the heart. “But Father, there are boring people who say the same things over and over again...” Listen to them. And then, when they have finished talking, you may speak, but listen to everything.
-->And the same is true with the Lord. It is good to inundate Him with requests, but it is better that we first of all listen to him. Jesus requests this. In the Gospel, when they ask him what is the first commandment, he answered: “Hear, O Israel”. Then he added the first commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…(and) your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:28-31). But first of all, “Hear, O Israel”. Do we remember to listen to the Lord? We are Christians, but sometimes with the thousands of words we hear every day, we do not find a moment to let a few words of the Gospel resound in us. Jesus is the Word: if we do not stop to listen to Him, He moves on. Saint Augustine said, “I fear that Jesus will pass by me unnoticed.” And the fear was to let Him pass by without hearing Him. But if we dedicate time to the Gospel, we will find the secret for our spiritual health. This is the medicine: every day a little silence and listening, fewer useless words and more of the Word of God. Always with the Gospel in your pocket that can help greatly. Today, as on the day of our Baptism, we hear the words of Jesus addressed to us: “Ephphatha, be opened!” Open your ears. Jesus, I want to open myself to your Word; Jesus, open myself to listening to you; Jesus, heal my heart from being closed, heal my heart from haste, heal my heart from impatience. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was open to hearing the Word which became flesh in her, help us every day to listen to her Son in the Gospel and to our brothers and sisters with a docile heart, with a patient heart, and with an attentive heart.
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)
1st Reading –
RispondiEliminaIsaiah 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.”
POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaANGELUS , 5 September 2021
Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!
The Gospel for today’s liturgy presents Jesus who heals a deaf man with a speech impediment. What is striking about this story is how the Lord performs this prodigious sign. He took the deaf man aside, put his finger into the man’s ears, and touched his tongue with saliva. Then he looked up to heaven, groaned, and said to him: “Ephphatha”, that is, “Be opened!” (cf Mk 7:33-34). In other healings, for infirmities as serious as paralysis or leprosy, Jesus did not do as many things. So why does he do all of this, even though they had only asked him to lay his hands on the sick man (cf. v.32)? Maybe it was because that person’s condition had a particularly symbolic value. The condition of deafness is also a symbol that can say something to all of us. What is this about? Deafness. That man was unable to speak because he could not hear. To heal the cause of his infirmity, Jesus, in fact, placed his fingers first of all in the man’s ears, then his mouth, but his ears first.
We all have ears, but very often we are not able to hear. Why is this? Brothers and sisters, there is an interior deafness that we can ask Jesus to touch and heal today. It is interior deafness, which is worse than physical deafness, because it is the deafness of the heart. Taken up with haste, by so many things to say and do, we do not find time to stop and listen to those who speak to us. We run the risk of becoming impervious to everything and not making room for those who need to be heard. I am thinking about children, young people, the elderly, the many who do not really need words and sermons, but to be heard. Let us ask ourselves: how is my capacity to listen going? Do I let myself be touched by people’s lives? Do I know how to spend time with those who are close to me in order to listen? This regards all of us, but in a special way also priests. The priest must listen to people, not in a rushed way, but listen and see how he can help, but after having listened. And all of us: first listen, then respond. Think about family life: how many times do we talk without listening first, repeating the same things, always the same things! Incapable of listening, we always say the same things, or we do not let the other person finish talking, expressing themselves, and we interrupt them. Starting a dialogue often happens not through words but silence, by not insisting, by patiently beginning anew to listen to others, hearing about their struggles and what they carry inside. The healing of the heart begins with listening. Listening. This is what restores the heart. “But Father, there are boring people who say the same things over and over again...” Listen to them. And then, when they have finished talking, you may speak, but listen to everything.
-->And the same is true with the Lord. It is good to inundate Him with requests, but it is better that we first of all listen to him. Jesus requests this. In the Gospel, when they ask him what is the first commandment, he answered: “Hear, O Israel”. Then he added the first commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…(and) your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:28-31). But first of all, “Hear, O Israel”. Do we remember to listen to the Lord? We are Christians, but sometimes with the thousands of words we hear every day, we do not find a moment to let a few words of the Gospel resound in us. Jesus is the Word: if we do not stop to listen to Him, He moves on. Saint Augustine said, “I fear that Jesus will pass by me unnoticed.” And the fear was to let Him pass by without hearing Him. But if we dedicate time to the Gospel, we will find the secret for our spiritual health. This is the medicine: every day a little silence and listening, fewer useless words and more of the Word of God. Always with the Gospel in your pocket that can help greatly. Today, as on the day of our Baptism, we hear the words of Jesus addressed to us: “Ephphatha, be opened!” Open your ears. Jesus, I want to open myself to your Word; Jesus, open myself to listening to you; Jesus, heal my heart from being closed, heal my heart from haste, heal my heart from impatience.
EliminaMay the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was open to hearing the Word which became flesh in her, help us every day to listen to her Son in the Gospel and to our brothers and sisters with a docile heart, with a patient heart, and with an attentive heart.
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)