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Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

September 08, 2024

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Introit

Kyrie

Gloria

Collect

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption,
look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters,
that those who believe in Christ
may receive true freedom
and an everlasting inheritance.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading Is 35:4-7a

Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 146:6-7,8-9,9-10

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

Second Reading Jas 2:1-5

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

Alleluia Cf. Mt 4:23

Gospel Mk 7:31-37

Returning from the region of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a man who was deaf and who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Catena Nova

And looking up to heaven, he groaned; not that He had need to groan Who Himself granted what (as man) He prayed for, but to teach us to groan to Him Who rules in heaven, that our ears also may be opened by the gifts of His Holy Spirit, and our tongue loosed by the saliva of His Mouth, that is, by the knowledge of His divine words, so that we shall proclaim them. And then He said to the man: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened; and immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed. And let us here note, that it was because of closed ears it was said: Be thou opened. And to him the ears of whose heart are opened to faith, there will without doubt also follow that the string of his tongue shall be loosened; so that he may speak to others, and encourage them so that they also may do the good he himself has done. And here, fittingly, was added: And he spoke right. For he speaks right who first obeying God, does what he tells others they must do. Therefore, in all that our mind dwells on, in all that we do, let us pray that we shall at all times meditate according to His inspiration, and act by His aid, Who lives and reigns with the Father, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen (Pope St. Gregory the Great).

The law says that all God did was good; the gospel says he has done all things well. Doing a good deed is not quite the same as doing it well. Many do good deeds but fail to do them well. The deeds of hypocrites, for example, are good, but they are done in the wrong spirit, with a perverse and defective intention. Everything God does, however, is not only good but is also done well. “The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his deeds.” With wisdom you have done them all: that is to say, most wisely and well. So “he has done all things well,” they say. Now if God has done all his good works and done them well for our sake, knowing that we take pleasure in goodness, why I ask do we not endeavor to make all our works good and to do them well, knowing that such works are pleasing to God?... So even in this present life we shall be happy, this world will be an earthly paradise for us; with the Hebrews we shall feast on heavenly manna in the desert of this life, if only we follow Christ’s example by striving to do everything well, so that “he has done all things well” may be said of each one of us (St. Lawrence of Brindisi).

If you want God to hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor. If you wish God to anticipate your wants, provide those of the needy without waiting for them to ask you. Especially anticipate the needs of those who are ashamed to beg. To make them ask for alms is to make them buy it (St. Thomas of Villanova).

All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone – for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good (St. John Vianney).

Throughout the Gospels Jesus not only took particular persons aside and did the sort of things described but he took us with them. He touches our ears and our tongues too, and he groans over us as well and says to us: Be opened. How did the man in the story use his newfound hearing and ability to speak clearly? He used it to praise God. He used it to tell others how wonderfully God had loved and saved him. He used these abilities to point to Jesus and, in effect, tell others to take their troubles and ills to Jesus. We have had such abilities for a long time. In a sense, every time we pray or worship together we proclaim the goodness of the One who gave us these gifts. Don’t you want to hear God’s word as clearly as possible? Don’t you want to praise God and repeat what you have heard him say to you as clearly and attractively as may be? In Mark’s Gospel a special emphasis is given to the praise and gratitude of those who are healed by Jesus. He can’t stop them from talking about it because their joy won’t let them. What about you? Have you never received a gift from God that’s worth talking about? I don’t ask you if you haven’t repeated stories of wonders done for others or by the hands of other believers. I ask you about what you have received and how your gratitude hascompelled you to share your own story. Christ speaks the same words to us. Haven’t we, then, experienced Christ’s love, God’s love, personally? (Fr. Pius Parcsh).

The Gospel relates the healing of a deaf-mute by Jesus. For Him, this clearly has to do with more than a physical disability. It is a parable for the people of Israel, who, in turn, represent all mankind. As the prophets have said so often, Israel is hard of hearing when it comes to the Word of God, which, in turn, renders it incapable of giving a valid response. Jesus does not make a spectacle out of His miracles. Hence, He takes the sick man aside, seeking the middle line between entirely avoiding publicity and helping the people. Physically touching both ears and tongue precedes His upward look toward the Father (in this miracle, the Father acts through Him) and His sign, which probably points to His having been filled with the Holy Spirit. This trinitarian fullness, indicates that the prayer “Be opened!” speaks not only of physical healing but, of effective grace for Israel and for all mankind (Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar).

I am sure that God did not intend that there be so many poor. The class structure is of our making and our consent, not His. It is the way we have arranged it, and it is up to us to change it (Dorothy Day).

Homily

Ever have one of those recurring dreams where you're trying to say something and you just can't get it out? I have one where I'm supposed to preach but the manuscript of the homily is missing in the pulpit and I suddenly have nothing to say: something, I guess, like that man with the speech impediment Jesus cured, who was unable to speak plainly until the Lord said, Be opened! (G)

Now I’m not telling you this for a glimpse of “Me and My Shadow.” I mention it because loss of voice afflicts us all from time to time. How often do you feel you can’t speak up? And say what’s on your mind, or in your heart? Either because you don’t have the chance, or you think you won’t be heard, you feel it would be a waste of time, or you’re simply afraid. So you remain mute and just dream to be opened.

A lot of people feel that way in church. The second session of the "Synod on Synodality" later this fall will attempt to give long-muffled voices of the laity a say in church governance and not just the usual “advising.” It's nothing new. Bishop John England of Charleston, South Carolina in 1820 (yes, that is the correct date) responded to the demands of lay trustees by establishing a House of Clergy and a House of Laity to govern the diocese. Then his successor undid the daring venture while other bishops have worked ever since to suppress meaningful lay participation in governance. But then, lo and behold, a vacant see in Switzerland will soon be filled when 13 cathedral canons and 180 members of a "lay parliament" select a bishop — a procedure in effect since the mid-nineteenth century with Pope Francis making the formal appointment (The Pillar; August 16, 2024; https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/lay-parliament-to-help-pick-new-swiss.) We need more of this.

Then there are women who feel their voices in particular have been rendered mute while church officials engage in tokenism or send mixed signals or even put a moratorium on discussing matters many feel vital for the church's future. For example, the pope recently gave an emphatic "no" to ordaining women deacons, yet has invited an Anglican woman bishop to join in discussions with his Council of Cardinals on the role of women in the church (USCCB; July 18, 2024; https://www.usccb.org/news/2024/no-despite-papal-denial-dialogue-women-diaconate-continues). Of course, there have been women like St. Hildegard of Bingen who opposed her bishop's refusal to allow a man who had been excommunicated to be buried in consecrated ground claiming she knew the man had been forgiven. Or St. Catherine of Siena who did not shrink from raising her voice to Pope Gregory XI insisting that he return to Rome from the safe distance of Avignon, France where popes had fled for some seventy years. Or St. Mary MacKillop, who was excommunicated by her own bishop in Australia for her progressive social ideas and her determination to start a new religious order. We need more such women.

Then there are racial, ethnic, cultural and sexual minorities who feel their voices are muted with little say in the church about their particular needs and experience. But then I think of Fr. Augustine Tolton, born into slavery, who became the first African-American priest ordained in the United States and who founded St. Monica’s Church in Chicago, a predominantly Black parish, and who was described as being “a fluent and graceful talker [with] a singing voice of exceptional sweetness.” Or Black Elk, the Lakota medicine man turned Catholic evangelist known for his ability to memorize Scripture and for his dynamic preaching. Both men’s causes for sainthood have been introduced (cf. America; August 20, 2024; https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2024/08/20/black-elk-catholicism-god-248621). We need more such examples among the saints.

Then there are theologians whose work has been squelched by threats from church authorities with the power to silence them. I read an article this week about the Dominican Edward Schillebeeckx whose views on the resurrection, the Eucharist, and ministry were judged "erroneous" by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith despite (or because of) his behind-the-scenes role in helping bishops resist the opponents of the Second Vatican Council (America; September 3, 2024; https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2024/09/03/cbc-column-edward-schillebeeckx-248706). But then I think of Fr. Yves Congar, one of the greatest Catholic theologians of the 20^th Century, who was silenced during the time of Pope Pius XII, but rehabilitated by Pope John XXIII who invited him to the Second Vatican Council where he made substantial contributions to the Council documents, and was ultimately made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II. We need more such theologians.

Finally, another voiceless group, of course, is the poor who have found in Pope Francis a tireless spokesman on behalf of the disenfranchised. For example, he wrote, “We need to let ourselves be evangelized by [the poor]…. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them” (Joy of the Gospel 198) Or as James reminds us in no uncertain terms: God [has] chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith (cf. II). We need more such reminders.

Now whatever your own voice range might be, I’m sure everyone who has found their voice could, at one time, only dream of doing so. Like the recurring dreams that fill the Bible as with the prophet Isaiah who shares one with us today, Say to those whose hearts are frightened, Be strong, fear not! Here is your God… [who] comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing (I). It’s the dream of all who adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ (cf. II). Who lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.

Intercessions (Joe Milner; The Sunday Website)

For the Church: that God will heal our deafness so that we may hear God’s invitations to service and recognize the cry of those who are suffering.

For a spirit of listening: that God will free us from the noise that blocks our ability to hear the Word of God, prepare our hearts to receive that Word, and help us to put God’s vision for tomorrow into practice today.

For a deepening of compassion for others: that we may feel the pain and the longings of the poor, the physically and mentally challenged, and of the marginalized so that we may accompany them on their life’s journey.

For all who have experienced abuse, discrimination, or hatred: that God will heal their pain and renew their spirits.

For all who work with the poor and homeless: that they may continually see Christ in all whom they meet.

For all who have hearing or speech problems: that we may affirm them as sisters and brothers and help them to use their gifts fully for God’s glory.

For all world leaders: that they recognize the dignity of all people regardless of status, wealth, or social position and seek to meet the basic needs of every person.

For a greater recognition of our call to be stewards of God's creation: that we may experience a new relationship with the created world that God has commended to our care and work to promote the wise use of its resources.

For all healthcare workers: that God will keep them safe, renew their energy, and work through them to bring healing and strength to all who are ill.

God of power and compassion, in Christ you reveal your will to heal and to save. Open our ears to your redeeming word and move our hearts by the strength of your love, so that our every word and work may proclaim as Messiah Jesus the Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen (ICEL; 1998).

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