Texts taken from the Missal “On Your Word” September-October

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
3rd week of the 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 see and the ears of the deaf shall be opened. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute shall sing for joy, for waters will burst forth in the desert, streams will flow in the steppe. The parched land will become a marsh, the thirsty ground, springs of water. - The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the first reading

Throughout the entire Sacred Scripture, the command: “Be strong, do not fear!” is repeated more than a hundred times. Clearly, it carries great importance. What are our fears? Sometimes, perhaps, they are somewhat superficial, but on other occasions they truly have the power to tear our hearts apart. Yet God is always there beside us, repeating: “Be strong, do not fear!” Do not let yourselves be overcome by the oppression of evil or by discouragement. At every moment of our lives, God gives us an unimaginable strength. But trials are certainly not spared us. The saints, and with them every Christian, are called to cross the desert. At times, it may even seem that we have been abandoned by God, in many different ways: from the loss of the people’s hope in the desert... to Jesus’ cry of faith on the cross. How can we convey this message today as well, in the face of broken families and difficulties in parishes and in the Church? By continuing to let ourselves hear the words “do not fear” and by living in the Father’s embrace.

SECOND READING

From the letter of Saint James the apostle (Jas 2:1-5)
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Suppose a person with gold rings on his fingers and wearing fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in. If you pay attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor person, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that he promised to those who love him? - The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the second reading

Saint Ambrose wrote: “The story of Naboth happened long ago, but it is renewed every day. What rich person does not continually covet the property of others? What rich person does not aspire to wrest from the poor person his small possession? Who is content with what he has? Who is not stirred in his greed by the possession of his neighbor? There was not only one Ahab; every day Ahab is born again, and his seed in this world never dies... Ah, rich people! How far do you aspire to carry your senseless greed? Are you perhaps the only inhabitants of the earth? Why do you drive from their possessions those who share your same nature, and claim for yourselves alone possession of the whole earth? The earth was created in common for everyone, rich and poor: why then do you arrogate to yourselves the exclusive right to the soil? No one is rich by nature, since nature gives birth to all equally poor; we come into the world naked and without gold or silver... Nature makes no distinctions among human beings, either at birth or at death.” And you? And the Church today?

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 to the Sea of Galilee, into the territory 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 everything well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!” - The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

Mark recounts the healing of a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. This man, whose name is not given, represents each one of us. He is a man who cannot hear what is said to him and cannot communicate what he thinks. Jesus takes him by the hand and, wishing to free him from evil, leads him away, far from the crowd seeking miracles, because our relationship with the Lord is always personal, a relationship of trust and intimacy. Jesus first touches the man’s ears, then takes some of his own saliva and touches his tongue. Then he raises his eyes to heaven, turning to the Father, and breathes forth the Holy Spirit, pronouncing in Aramaic the word: “Ephphatha,” which the evangelist translates as “Be opened - Be open” to God and to every person. The word “Ephphatha” sums up Christ’s entire mission: he became man so that humanity, made inwardly deaf and mute by sin, might become capable of hearing the voice of God speaking to the heart, and thus learn in turn to speak the language of love with God and with others. We too can come to know the Lord if we experience intimacy through deep listening to the Word, if we are able to withdraw from the crowd in order to be with him.