Twenty third Sunday in Ordinary Time, 9/5

Mt 7:31-37 – The Lord heals the Deaf Man

“Fear not! Here is your God, he comes to save you.” (Is 35)

The prophet Isaiah tells us that when the Lord comes, “The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and the thirsty ground will become springs of water.” How do these promises speak to you? In what ways do you thirst for God’s living water?

Jesus began his ministry by quoting Isaiah’s prophecy in his hometown of Nazareth, and then he spent the next few years fulfilling its promises. In today’s Gospel, we see people bring a man who is deaf and mute, and they beg Jesus to heal him.

Let us fix our gaze on Jesus, and watch his gestures in this passage. “He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue.” This is one of the grittier passages, in which we see Jesus in all of his humanity. He comes into intimate contact with this crippled person, seemingly wanting to communicate something to all of us through the symbolic healing using his own spit and touching the man’s ears and tongue.

“He looked up to heaven and groaned.” Can you imagine Jesus’ groan? Why does God groan? St. Paul also speaks of the Spirit, who “intercedes with groans too deep for words” (Rom 8:26). How might God be “groaning” as he looks upon you? What might you be in need of healing?

A special note is also included: “He took him off by himself away from the crowd.” Do you also desire to be drawn apart, away from the burdens of life and have a “heart-to-heart” encounter with the Lord? Do you believe that the Lord is there waiting for you? Allow for those in your life to take you to the Lord, and let him take you apart and bring his healing touch, as he does with the deaf man.

When the Lord enters your life, he will be this stream of life-giving water in the desert. And we will become like trees that bear fruit in our lives, giving him glory.

Patrick Travers, SCV