First Reading
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B – 2009 Isaiah 35:4-7a
Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he 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. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
Second Reading
James 2:1-5
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “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 world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?
Gospel Cycle Cycle B
Mark 7:31-37
Again 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.”
The relationship between the first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, and the Gospel, from Saint Mark, is very clear. Our God is a God who does miracles from time to time in order to manifest His divinity. Probably what bothers us is that God does not make miracles all of the time. This question points us to the heart of the mystery that we live: creation and redemption.
God wants us all as fully alive as possible, living for Him and for one another. We live in a world that is broken. This is a world in which children die, a world with wars, a world with hatred and deception. This is a world where both good and bad thoughts struggle for our attention. This is a world in which it is not easy to choose for the good in every situation. We are tempted to choose for the values of the world: for money, for power and for pleasure.
Yet it is still a world which God loves. God chooses to love each one of us, honoring our freedom while at the same time inviting us to love Him in return. There are many signs of God’s love: beauty, truth, incredible acts of kindness, music, the Church, etc. Because God does not interfere with our freedom, we continue to live with the brokenness of the world and its sinfulness.
It is this same brokenness that is spoken about in the second reading, from the Letter of Saint James. This letter speaks about common human experiences such as pride and envy. We Christians are not any better than anyone else. On the other hand, we can have God’s grace and help when we ask for it.
The Word of God today might be inviting us to see God’s presence when we see miracles, great and small; to see God’s presence when people do good; to see God present in all good and to see inviting us to live a different way when we experience evil and brokenness. Blessed be God!