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BE OPENED! - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (9/5/2021)
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Isaiah 35:4-7
Psalm 116
James 2:1-5
Mark 7:31-37
BE OPENED!
Isaiah prophesied, “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared.” Jesus healed the deaf man by saying, “Ephphatha! (that is, ‘Be opened!’).” The Responsorial, Psalm 146, says, “The Lord gives sight to the blind.” Jesus himself gives examples of healing the blind, lame, lepers and the deaf as signs that he is indeed the Messiah (cf. Matt. 11:5; Luke 7:22).
ISAIAH
The messianic ministry of Jesus was prophesied by Isaiah in the eighth century BC. Isaiah foretells a time when God will come to save his people. It will be a glorious time when the blind, deaf, lame and mute will be healed. Isaiah prophesies “streams...in the desert, and rivers in the steppe.”
As mentioned, the Responsorial Psalm reinforces this messianic prophecy.
GOSPEL
Today we hear of Jesus healing a deaf man who could not speak clearly. Mark is the only evangelist to record this particular miracle, perhaps because it demonstrated Jesus healing a Gentile.
Several interesting elements occur in this healing: Jesus takes the man away from the crowd; Jesus puts his finger into the man's ears; Jesus spits and touches the man's tongue; Jesus looks to heaven, sighs, and utters the Aramaic word “Ephphatha,” which means “Be opened.”
The man is healed—he can now hear and speak plainly. Despite Jesus' order, the crowd continues to publicize the miracle because they were “exceedingly astonished.” May we never cease to be exceedingly astonished at the Lord Jesus. Indeed, “He has done all things well.”
JAMES
Today we continue to read from the Letter of James. Our reading warns against undue favoritism in the Christian community. James cautions against giving the rich and well-dressed an improper preference.
James further reminds us that God chose the poor in this world to be “rich in faith.” St. Paul would say that God chose the low and despised in the world to “bring to nothing” the so-called rich and famous (cf. 1 Cor. 1:28).
No one can boast before God because we are all equal in his sight—sinners in need of grace to be saved!
BE OPEN TO WHAT?
In the late sixties and seventies, it was common to hear the phrase “be open”— especially meaning be open to “new” things and changes occurring in the Church.
However, it is vitally important that we be open to hearing the word of God and keeping it, as Mary did. We have to be open to being converted from sin and living for God. We have to be open to evangelizing and spreading the gospel. The Church exists to evangelize, as Pope Saint Paul VI taught in Evangelii Nuntiandi (1974).
In short, we have to be open to the word of God and the grace of the Holy Spirit, while being closed to sin, error, and all that comes from the world, the flesh and the devil that would lead us away from the Lord.
