Friday February 12

FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

ABLE TO HEAR

 

Introduction

      Why do people sin? According to the author of Genesis, sinning is not the nature of humans: they were created good. But as far as the memory of people goes, they have sort of rebelled against God, they wanted to be their own masters, to decide for themselves what they wanted. This is put here in the form of a story that expresses also our solidarity in sin.

      A sign that Jesus is the Promised Savior is that he first goes to the poor, the sick, the marginalized people, for they need him most. Not only material poverty is meant. The deaf and the mute, the hard of hearing and the stammerers are we who are shut up within ourselves, often closed to God and to one another. Jesus comes to open our ears and mouths to the words and the deeds of God, that we may listen to his message and respond to his love, and that we may also hear those who are poor and speak to them. Note that this miracle too happens in pagan territory. Let Jesus in the eucharist heal us and commit us to God and people.

 

Opening Prayer

Our saving God,
Jesus your Son made those who were deaf hear
and those who were dumb speak.
Make us see that often we are stutterers
and hard of hearing.
Open our ears to the message of your Son
that it may stir our hearts and change our lives.
Loosen our tongues to proclaim
the great things you do for us
through your Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior for ever.

 

Reading 1: Gen 3:1-8

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods
who know what is good and what is evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.

When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden
at the breezy time of the day,
the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God
among the trees of the garden.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7

(1a) Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.

 

Alleluia: Acts 16:14b

Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mk 7:31-37

Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man’s ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
“Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”)
And immediately the man’s ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

 

Intercessions:

–         For the Church, that we may not only love the poor and care for them, but also protest with courage when they are trampled upon, we pray:

–         For educators in the faith – priests, sisters, catechists, teachers – that they themselves may listen to God’s word, and then pass it on with conviction and love, we pray:

–         For those who are deaf and blind to other people and to their love and needs, that their eyes and hearts may be opened to the treasures of love and sharing, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord, our God, merciful Father,
you set the table of your Son
for rich and poor alike.
By the strength of this bread of life,
do not allow us to remain deaf
to your voice crying out
in the needs of the poor and the oppressed.
Teach us and help us to speak to them
not just words of pity
but deeds of justice, dignity and love.
May this be the sign
that your Son is alive among us,
he who is our Lord and Savior for ever.

 

Prayer after Communion

Saving God,
in your Son, Jesus Christ, you have chosen
what is poor and weak in this world,
to be rich in faith and love
and to be heirs to your kingdom.
Jesus did all things well.
Speak through us who were once
faint-hearted and tongue-tied
deeds of mercy and hope,
for you have healed and freed us all
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Blessing

Jesus has been with us in this Eucharistic celebration to bring us out of our isolation and to open us, in respect and love, to God and to our neighbor, that is, to all. Like Jesus, may we become available particularly to the poorest among us and let them feel that, with God, we too care. May Almighty God give you this openness and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Word 

This deaf-mute man is a figure of humanity in general, precisely because being deaf by not listening to the sounds, not listening to the words, he does not learn to make sounds and words and the person becomes dumb. It is the condition of the deaf humanity to the Word of God; it is their inability to understand, to comprehend, to accept the Word, and thus the humanity has an inability to communicate, to speak this Word that he has received.

“Ephphatha!” that word that Jesus said imperatively: “Open up.” We have a closed man and Jesus gives him the order: “Open up.”

He orders this man, closed on himself, to open up. His ears open, the knot of the tongue is untied. It is an almost ridiculous image. That man had his tongue knotted. Jesus’ word lets it go. This rite has been maintained in the celebration of baptism and we continue to do it with the children too. After the other symbolic gestures of the anointing, of the robe, of the light we touch the ears and the mouth of the baptized saying: ‘The Lord Jesus who made the deaf hear and the dumb speak grant you to hear his Word soon, and to profess your faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.’

Listen and profess. Listen to the Word and profess the faith. This is the itinerary. This deaf–mute man becomes the prototype of the catechumen, that is, the one who attends the catechism in preparation to receive baptism, to be open to listen to the Word and be open to announce his faith. In fact, we want the Lord to continue to whisper this command into our years “Ephphatha” that we become open to his Word and profess our faith.

For the Chinese people and for many in the South East Asia, regardless of religious affiliations, today is New Year according to the Lunar Calendar. The Lunar New Year is a reminder of our culture, traditions and common origin; time to honour the ancestors, to give thanks for the past year and to pray for a better year. Let this New Year enable us to Open up to God and to our brothers and sisters in love and mutual concern and service.