Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

MARK 7:31 – 37

WHEN I WAS A KID ONE OF MY CLASSMATES WAS PRETTY DEAF, FROM ONE OF THOSE CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES. ALTHOUGH HE HAD BEEN FITTED WITH HEARING AIDS, THEY WERE BIG AND CLUMSY, AND USED TO SQUEAL DURING CLASS. SOME OF US SUSPECTED HE MADE THEM DO THAT ON PURPOSE, BUT WHAT COULD THE TEACHER DO ABOUT IT? HE HATED THE HEARING AIDS, AND WOULD CONVENIENTLY FORGET THEM WHEN HE CAME IN FROM RECESS. WE USED TO THINK HE TURNED THEM OFF AS WELL, BECAUSE THE TEACHER COULD YELL AT HIM AND HE DIDN'T SEEM TO NOTICE. IN ANY EVENT, SINCE HE COULDN'T HEAR HIMSELF VERY WELL, OR OTHER PEOPLE EITHER, HE HAD A VERY NOTICEABLE WAY OF SPEAKING, KIND OF HIGH PITCHED WITH DIFFICULTY MAKING CERTAIN SOUNDS.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK IS THE OLDEST GOSPEL, PROBABLY WRITTEN IN IT'S CURRENT FORM ABOUT 60 TO 70 YEARS AFTER CHRIST. IN MARK THERE IS NO STORY OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS, AND AT THE END OF THE STORY, THERE IS NOT MUCH ABOUT THE RESURRECTION. IN FACT, SOME SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT THE ORIGINAL STORY ENDED WITH THE WOMEN WHO WITNESSED JESUS' RESURRECTION BEING AFRAID TO TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT. IN OTHER WORDS, THE WHOLE THEME OF MARK, EVEN TO IT'S ORIGINAL END, IS TO ASK THE READER, “GIVEN THE EVIDENCE, WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS?

ONE OF THE OTHER WAYS THAT MARK IS DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER GOSPELS IS HOW IT PORTRAYS JESUS WORKING MIRACLES. HE DOESN'T WORK MIRACLES WITH A COMMAND, OR A WAVE OF THE HAND. THERE IS SOME SORT OF CONTACT BETWEEN JESUS AND THE PERSON WHO IS HEALED. IN TODAY'S GOSPEL. HE SPITS, AND PUTS SOME OF THE SPIT ON THE MAN'S TONGUE; HE GROANS – A SIGN OF GREAT EFFORT. I'M SURE YOU REMEMBER THE OTHER TIME JESUS USED SPIT, WHEN HE TOOK A BLIND MAN OUT OF TOWN AND GAVE HIM BACK HIS SIGHT. IT TOOK TWO TRIES TO GET IT RIGHT. THE JESUS OF MARK REMINDS US OF THE MIRACLES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS, LIKE ELIJAH, WHO RAISED A DEAD CHILD BY LAYING ON TOP OF HIM, OR ELISHA,WHO PARTED THE WATERS BY STRIKING THEM WITH ELIJAH'S CLOAK.

MY DEAF SCHOOLMATE HAD A DISTORTED WAY OF SPEAKING BECAUSE HE COULD NOT HEAR HIMSELF SPEAK VERY WELL. MOST OF US LEARN OUR LANGUAGE FROM OUR PARENTS AND OTHER RELATIVES. WE HEAR OUR OWN WORDS AND MODIFY THEIR PRONUNCIATION SO IT MATCHES THOSE WHO WE FIRST HEAR. I WAS RECENTLY IN MONTANA, AND WHENEVER I GO BACK THERE I BECOME AWARE OF THE “MONTANA ACCENT” IN WHICH THE WORD YOU PRONOUNCE AS “JUST” IS PRONOUNCED “JIST” AND “CREEK” BECOMES “CRICK”. THE MAN JESUS CURED IN TODAY'S GOSPEL PROBABLY HAD PERFECTLY NORMAL SPEAKING MACHINERY – HIS TONGUE, HIS VOCAL CORDS, THE NERVES REGULATING THESE WERE AS NORMAL AS YOURS AND MINE. BUT HE COULD NOT HEAR HIMSELF VERY WELL, AND THAT DISTORTED THE WAY HE SPOKE.

WHEN MY FRIEND WAS IN GRADE SCHOOL, HE WAS NOT A BRILLIANT PERFORMER. AS I MENTIONED, HE DIDN'T PAY MUCH ATTENTION BECAUSE HE REALLY COULDN'T. IN THOSE DAYS OUR POOR TEACHERS, WHO USUALLY HAD SIXTY KIDS IN A CLASS WITH NO TEACHER'S AIDES, GROUPED PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITIES, AND MY FRIEND WAS IN THE LOWEST RANK IN ALMOST EVERY SUBJECT. BUT HE EVENTUALLY GOT FITTED WITH MUCH BETTER HEARING AIDES, AND DEVELOPED AN IMPROVED ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEARNING, AND HIS ABILITY TO SPEAK CLEARLY IMPROVED. HE WENT ON TO GET A DEGREE IN BUSINESS AND ANOTHER IN ACCOUNTING.

I BRING THIS UP BECAUSE I THINK WE LEARN SOMETHING IN THIS MIRACLE, AND IN THE STORY OF MY FRIEND. YOU CAN'T SPEAK CLEARLY UNTIL YOU HEAR CLEARLY. AND SO MANY OF US CATHOLICS ARE HEARING IMPAIRED. WE DON'T READ THE BIBLE, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT OUR CHURCH TEACHES, WE ARE UNAWARE OF SO MUCH OF WHAT GOD WANTS US TO HEAR. AND YET WE SPEAK, OFTEN IN WAYS THAT ARE INACCURATE. BECAUSE WE DON'T HEAR WHAT WE SHOULD, WE ARE POOR WITNESSES TO OUR CHILDREN AND OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. SOMETIMES WE DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD. BECAUSE MOST OF US DON'T KNOW OR CARE ABOUT OUR CHURCH'S TEACHINGS, WE CATHOLICS ELECT POLITICIANS WHO PROMOTE ABORTION. WE WILL PROBABLY HELP MASSACHUSETTS BECOME THE THIRD STATE TO PERMIT ASSISTED SUICIDE WHEN THE INITIATIVE COMES UP IN NOVEMBER.

DOES THIS MEAN WE SHOULD KEEP OUR MOUTHS SHUT? I'VE ACTUALLY MET CATHOLICS WHO STATE THAT THEY REALLY DON'T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES SO THEY JUST KEEP QUIET. AND THESE ARE OFTEN PEOPLE WHO ARE VERY GOOD CATHOLICS BY ALL CRITERIA; THEY LIVE GOOD LIVES, THEY LOVE THE EUCHARIST, THEY WITNESS IN MANY PRACTICAL WAYS. BUT HOW MUCH BETTER IT WOULD BE IF THEY KNEW WHAT THE CHURCH TAUGHT AND EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, WHY. WHAT A SOCIAL FORCE WE WOULD BE IF WE MADE THAT KNOWLEDGE SECOND NATURE. IT'S INTERESTING THAT IN THE MORMON RELIGION, EVERY SUNDAY THEY HAVE A WORSHIP SERVICE THAT LASTS ABOUT AN HOUR; THEN THE GROUP BREAKS UP INTO SMALLER GROUPS, AND SPENDS AN HOUR STUDYING SOME PASSAGE FROM THEIR SCRIPTURES; AND THEN THEY FORM GROUPS BASED ON COMMON INTERESTS, GENDER, AGE, AND SPEND ANOTHER HOUR TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE SCRIPTURES APPLY TO THE WAY THEY LIVE THEIR LIVES. THREE HOURS ON A SUNDAY! CAN YOU IMAGINE? AND THE ADULT MEN, WHO ALL TAKE SERIOUSLY THEIR PRIESTHOOD, MEET ON WEDNESDAYS TO PRAY TOGETHER, ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER, AND STRENGTHEN THEIR FAITH, WHILE THE WOMEN MEET TOGETHER TO SEE THAT THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY ARE MET – AND PRAY TOGETHER, AND STRENGTHEN THEIR FAITH AS WELL.

YOU NEED TO HEAR CLEARLY BEFORE YOU CAN SPEAK CLEARLY. JESUS WANTED HIS FOLLOWERS TO BE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, THE SALT OF THE EARTH. THROUGH HIS WORDS AND ACTIONS, HE GAVE HIS DISCIPLES THE TRUTH, AND ENTRUSTED THEM TO PASS IT ON DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS. THIS PROCESS WAS TO BE GUARANTEED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND BY THE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF JESUS WHO PROMISED THAT HE WOULD BE WITH US, EVEN TO THE END OF THE WORLD.

MY FRIEND PASSED AWAY IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR. UNFORTUNATELY HE EVENTUALLY LOST ALL HIS HEARING, BUT BY THEN HAD PREPARED HIMSELF SO THAT HE WAS ABLE TO LEAD A PRODUCTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL LIFE; HE MARRIED AND RAISED THREE CHILDREN, AND WORKED TO MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED. HE HAD ONLY A SMALL WINDOW OF TIME WHEN HIS HEARING WAS SUFFICIENT FOR HIM TO LEARN TO SPEAK CLEARLY.

POPE BENEDICT HAS BEGGED THE CATHOLIC PEOPLE TO DEVOTE THIS YEAR TO LEARNING THEIR FAITH WELL, NOT JUST SO WE CAN GET A PASSING GRADE ON SOME TEST, BUT SO THAT WE CAN FULFILL WHAT WE WERE CREATED FOR, WHICH IS TO GIVE WITNESS TO THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS THROUGH HIS CHURCH, IN A WAY THAT IS CONVINCING TO OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS. LET US PRAY TODAY TO HEAR CLEARLY, SO THAT WE CAN SPEAK CLEARLY AND CONVINCINGLY. LET US PRAY THAT WE CAN HEAR CLEARLY SO THAT WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.