Texts taken from the “Sulla Tua Parola” Missal September-October 2024

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
3rd wk. psalter

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is 35:4-7a)
Say to those whose hearts are frightened: “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God, vengeance comes, divine recompense. He comes to save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute shall sing for joy, for waters shall burst forth in the desert, streams flow in the steppe. The scorched land shall become a marsh, the parched ground springs of water. - The word of the Lord. 

Commentary on the first reading

“God comes to save you!” the prophet Isaiah cries out to the discouraged crowds. The signs the prophet announces are easy to recognize, because they concern physical phenomena: blind people who regain their sight, lame people who leap, mute people who shout, deserts that drip with mighty rivers of fresh water. Such things will really happen: when Jesus comes, his life will be filled with miracles; these serve to awaken the masses, and they have always been present throughout the history of the Church (just think of the lives of the saints). Once awakened to faith, people can more easily understand the true meaning of Christ’s mission, which is not simply the healing of bodies, but the salvation of souls. The Church, therefore, is always charismatic, because the action of grace has not ceased; there will always be blind people who regain their sight and sick people who are suddenly healed. Then all of these, together with the healthy, are taken by the hand and led before the miracle of miracles: the bread that becomes the Body of Christ and the wine that becomes his Blood; in order to have life, true life: eternal life.

SECOND READING

From the Letter of Saint James the Apostle (Jas 2:1-5)
My brothers and sisters, your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must be free of personal favoritism. Suppose that someone wearing a gold ring and fine clothes comes into one of your meetings, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in. If you look at the one wearing fine clothes and say, “You sit here, comfortably,” and to the poor person you say, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” are you not making distinctions and becoming judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: has not God chosen the poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? - The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the second reading

The beauty of Christian life is the love that radiates in every direction. “Holiness is recognized in the nuances,” said a mystic of the last century. If someone performs a great miracle in Jesus’ name and everyone acclaims him as a saint, but then always treats troublesome people violently and rudely, or behaves obsequiously toward the rich and arrogantly toward the unfortunate, that person is not holy. Think of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus: during her life she never performed any spectacular miracle, never experienced ecstasy or bilocation, but her holiness was entirely realized in small acts of kindness toward her fellow sisters, in the humble and serene acceptance of the various difficulties of convent life... all things that each of us can do without difficulty. “One small act of pure love is worth more than all the works of the Church put together,” wrote Saint John of the Cross. Let us therefore notice the small things, sanctify our day with acts of intense love toward everyone, and make our love genuine through the smallest things that daily life continually offers us. 

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Mark (Mk 7:31-37)
At that time, Jesus left the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward the Sea of Galilee, into the region 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 aside in private, away from the crowd. He put his fingers 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 tongue was released, 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 said, “He has done everything well: he makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!” - The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

This is one of the few miracles that Jesus performs in private. Before acting, the Savior takes the man who is deaf and has a speech impediment away from the people, to be alone with him. “When you pray, go into your room and pray to your Father in secret,” the Master once said to the crowds. Secrecy and privacy serve to bring you into a deeper relationship with the one you love. In this case, the miracle is like a personal and hidden gift for the individual person; it is not performed so that Jesus might be publicly recognized as a great miracle-working healer. When we think about it, it is the same for each of us: I can attend a very crowded Mass, but then, when I receive Holy Communion, everything takes place intimately between Jesus and me. Love, above all, is a mutual exchange between two people: I give myself to you and receive you, you give yourself to me and receive me. Perhaps this is also why the miracle is performed with serious and solemn gestures: the fingers, the touch, the gaze toward heaven, the words spoken... That dialogue must then continue in secret with Jesus, without saying anything to anyone. This miracle of the man who was deaf and had a speech impediment is like our Holy Mass: Jesus touches us, heals us, and enables us to live his life.