Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7 – The blind shall see, the deaf hear, the dumb sing for joy

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 14(15):2-5 – The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

Second Reading: James 2:1-5 – God chose the poor according to the world to be rich in faith.

Gospel: Mark 7:31-37 – ‘He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak’

Reading through Isaiah’s text in the first reading in which he prophesied that the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unsealed, etc., and connecting it with the gospel reading in which Mark described the healing of the deaf man by Jesus, many people are often tempted to focus today’s homily on miracles which, they promise, are guaranteed to people who believe; or rather, who scream loudest that they believe. Whereas miracles can and do happen, the danger of such narrow and simplistic interpretation of what constitutes miracle is that it makes people lose focus on the bigger picture the texts are pointing to. When people concentrate their energy on having their physical eyes and ears cured, they tend to forget the reason God gave us the senses in the first instance.

God did not give us eyes just to look but to see. Our ears are not meant just for listening but for hearing. Our tongues are not just for talking but for speaking. These alternatives, although they appear as synonyms, are in reality different. It can take a lifetime opening one’s eyes and looking. But seeing is done in a flash. Only very few are opportune to see in their lifetime. The rest are physically not blind, but they do not see. All they do is look. It takes physical eyes to look; but seeing is done with the eyes of the soul. In this sense, one does not need eyes in order to see, just as one does not need ears in order to hear because hearing is done, not with the physical ears but with the ears of the soul. Have you ever asked yourself why Jesus was often in the habit of ending many of his teachings and parables with the provocative statement, “Let those who have ears, hear”? He was conscious that his listeners had physical ears; but he understood that many of them do not hear because they didn’t have the ears of the soul with which to hear, and the eyes of the soul with which to see.

The reason why there is suffering in the world is because human beings have not learnt how to see. They look but they do not see. They listen but they do not hear. And because they do not see, people in need pass them by without their even noticing them. Others cry for help in front of them without their even hearing them. Of what use are our physical eyes when we do not see; and our physical ears when we do not hear? The distinctions and discriminations we make between the rich and the poor, and between saints and sinners, stem from our spiritual blindness. St. James gave an example of this in the second reading when he condemned the attitude of noticing the rich because they are well dressed and overlooking the poor because they are haggard-looking. This manner of looking portrays our blindness. And so, when Isaiah says in the first reading that the eyes of the blind shall be opened, we should pray for such miracle knowing that we are blind.

In the same manner, when Jesus says “Ephphatha!” he is calling on our ears to open so that we not only listen but should hear every bit of creation and every bit of the gospel. When you open the bible to read or when you listen to a sermon, do you really desire to hear every bit of what you are reading or listening to, or do you pick and choose what to hear and what not to hear? Unfortunately many Christians are in the second category. We pick and choose what to hear like we do in fast-food restaurants. When we visit fast-food restaurants, usually there are varieties of meal on display. The usual thing to do is to select from among the varieties what to buy and eat. There is nothing wrong with this attitude of “pick and choose”, except that many people apply it also to their spiritual lives. As long as the bible or the homily talks about reward and double blessings and miracles, they are attentive to them. But once the bible or the homily starts talking of hardship, evils of sin, repentance, conversion, self-sacrifice, the cross, decency, etc., they switch off their ears and become deaf to such messages. It was St. Augustine who said that, “If you believe what you like in the Gospel and reject what you do not like, it is not the Gospel you believe but yourself.” How accurate he described the attitude of today’s Christians.

As with our eyes and ears, so it is with our tongues. What, precisely do we use our tongues to do: to talk or to speak; to condemn or to proclaim? We need to be careful what we use our senses for. Because we often misuse them, our senses have become paralyzed and dead, and therefore need to be revived by Jesus so that they will begin again to perform the functions for which they were created.

But, what has killed our senses? The answer is the crowd, of course. When you are too near the crowd, you will not hear. Their noise will damage your eardrum. This was the reason why, in order to restore his sense of hearing, Jesus had to literally remove the deaf man away from the crowd. And even after the healing, he did not invite him to give testimony, but rather ordered him and others not to say anything to anybody. This is the exact opposite of what our so-called faith-healers do – they gather the crowd to witness their performance. They seek to increase their popularity by always inviting people to come out publicly to give the so-called testimony so that the whole world would realize how “powerful” they are. During the time of Jesus, it was more important to be spiritually healed and restored to full life in the community than it was to be cured. In fact, everybody who came to Jesus was healed even though he/she might not have been cured. Today, however, people prefer to be cured than to be spiritually healed. This preference runs contrary to what Jesus teaches and what he does.

Jesus would always separate his would-be “clients” from the crowd because he knows the danger of the crowd. He does not want any applause or praise from the crowd because they damage our senses. The same crowd is still our Achilles heel today. When you begin to listen to the gossips and idol talk of the crowd, you will become deaf; they will confuse you, and you will equally become dumb. Therefore, beware when you have so many “advisers”.