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Today, 27th of September, we celebrate
Saint Vincent of Paul
Isaiah 35:4-7
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.
Psalm 146:7,8-9,9-10
R./ Praise the Lord, my soul!
The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the opporessed,
gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets captives free.
R./ Praise the Lord, my soul!
The Lord gives sight to the blind;
the Lord raises up those who were bowed down.
The Lord love the just;
the Lord protects strangers.
R./ Praise the Lord, my soul!
The fatherless and the widow the Lord sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The Lord shall reign forever;
you God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R./ Praise the Lord, my soul!
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?
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."
“He has done everything well.”
Dear brothers and sisters, peace and blessings.
In the Bible, blindness, deafness, paralysis, and being mute often refer to Israel – “Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears” (Isaiah 43:8). The prophets often repeat that this is a people who close their ears to the voice of their God and, without having heard His Word, are unable to proclaim it. But the Lord – the prophet assures us – will intervene on behalf of Israel. That’s why the first reading starts off well. We could say it’s a song of hope.
Today’s text comes from the second Isaiah, the prophet who announces the return from exile. Surely this poem would be comforting to the exiles in Babylon, back in the 6th century, people “with tired hands, with shaky knees, with troubled hearts.” With few reasons for hope, let’s face it. In spite of everything, God is always near. And He cares about – and takes care of – everyone.
However, fear, more often than we’d like, grips us. We’re afraid of not knowing what the future holds, the possibility of being attacked, getting sick… There’s also fear of difficulty, and yes, fear of death. These words from Isaiah invite us to lift our gaze, to be brave, to have a strong heart. Because God is strong, very strong, and has infinite power. He can do everything, and He comes in person. He wants to come to that very place where you are now, so you can stand firm. He is near, and He brings relief from so much pain and misery. He gives you the courage to keep walking towards the Light.
That fear silences us, doesn’t let us say a word of help, of compassion. In that state, Isaiah’s prophecy takes on a new meaning, because God gives light to our eyes, opens our ears, and revitalizes our tongue. We can rejoice, because “waters have burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.”
This week we’re also accompanied by the Letter of the Apostle James. And he asks us a question that can give us food for thought: How do we judge people? Or, put another way, do we understand that we are all brothers and sisters, or do we look at people with suspicion, even fear? It’s inevitable that there are differences between us, but what God doesn’t tolerate is favoritism. In our churches, we generally don’t have the problem that James mentions. But the problem is outside.
There are the materially poor, and there’s another kind of poor, who aren’t just poor because they don’t have money, but because they’re at a disadvantage in the world. Because they don’t have an education, because they don’t have a decent job, because they don’t have their papers in order, for example. The community should pay more attention to these people, to differentiate itself from those who aren’t believers. May they not be left lying by the roadside, like the man who was robbed and beaten by bandits. Let’s be good Samaritans.
Every illness in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, was a punishment from the Lord. But deafness, in particular, was an image of rejecting the Word. It represents the condition of the man who listens to other voices, seductive voices, but ones that don’t give life. Not being able to hear the word of God is a serious problem, but the Lord has promised to remedy it. Because the deaf person cannot hear the Good News, and cannot react. He lives isolated, locked in his own world. He has not been able to know Jesus or hear his Gospel. And, let’s not forget, there are those who are deaf from birth, and those who are deaf because they don’t want to hear. They live well without God.
We are not like that, in principle, although sometimes it’s hard for us to hear the voice of God. What can we do? How can we fight our spiritual deafness?
The first thing, perhaps, would be to fight against our personal selfishness. To stop thinking only of ourselves, to stop listening to the voice that says we should only take care of ourselves, and to open up. Opening up allows us to go out and meet our brothers and sisters, so that our words and our deeds, our faith and our life are consistent. To say and to do. How do I relate to my brothers and sisters and to the Lord? What are my words like, and what are my deeds like? Do I believe in what I do, and do I do what I believe?
Also, for the Lord to heal our deafness, we have to seek Him. We can’t allow the Lord to always be the one who comes to meet us. We have to get close. Are we within reach of the Lord? Do we put ourselves in a position to change? Are we willing to do that? There are many ways. Sacraments, the Word, prayer…
On the other hand, the deaf-mute “lets himself be done to.” He is docile. We can also ask that, when we present ourselves before the Lord, we do so with docility. That we don’t let ourselves become worldly, that we are faithful to God. That He may open our ears, awaken our sensitivity to feel His presence (like the blind man by the roadside), so that He may give us comfort, health, and hope.
Today there are many means and interests determined to produce deafness to anything that sounds like Church, like spirituality. To face them, we have to clean our ears often, so that the authentic message of Jesus reaches us. In this way, we too will be able to say, like Jesus’ contemporaries, that He has done everything well, also in our lives. It’s possible. We just have to be attentive, and let God act.
Your brother in faith,
Alejandro, C.M.F.
Alejandro Carbajo, cmfBlessed be the Lord Jesus Christ,
who did all things well.
He makes the deaf hear
and the mute speak.
May he open our ears to his Word
and may he always be with you. R/ And also with you.
A. Lord, Open Our Ears and Lips
We live in era of communication explosion: fax, E-mail, internet or web, and so on. And at the same time it is an age of isolation and loneliness of people. What people have is information, and what they have lost is personal relations. In this eucharist we pray to the Lord, to open our ears. that we may again listen to one another and to God speaking to us. May we also learn again to speak to one another, person to person.
We ask the Lord and one another
to forgive us that we have been deaf
to the Lord speaking in his Word
and in the cries of the poor.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, touch our ears
and open them to your message
and to the appeals of those in need:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, touch our tongues,
that we may speak words of endearment
to those we love:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, touch our eyes,
that we may see and feel the needs
of those lonely and abandoned:
Lord, have mercy R/ Lord, have mercy.
Lord, touch us with your forgiving hand
and open us to your love
and to the needs of those around us.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Let us pray that God's Spirit
may open us to all that is good
(PAUSE)
God our Father,
you wait for us to be open to you, to people,
and to all that is true, beautiful and good.
Let your Spirit open our ears
to the liberating word of your Son.
Let him open our hearts and hands
to everyone who needs us.
Let him open our lips,
that we may proclaim everywhere
the marvels you do for us.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading Introduction: The Ears of the Deaf Shall Be Opened
To a people deaf and blind to God, the prophet announces the joy of salva-tion: they will see and hear and become new.
Second Reading Introduction: No Double Standard! God Loves the Poor
It is a betrayal of the Christian sense of community to honor the rich and humiliate the poor, says James. God loves the poor and makes them rich in faith.
Gospel Introduction: Be Opened!
The deaf-mute stands for those closed to God. Jesus came to open people to God, so that they can praise his great deeds. His attention to the poor is the sign that the kingdom has come.
Let us pray with fullest trust to the Father in heaven who always listens to what we ask him in Jesus' name, and let us say: R/ Listen to your people Lord.
- For the Church, that we may not only love the poor and care for them, but speak out with courage when they are trampled upon, let us pray: R/ Listen to your people Lord.
- 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, let us pray : R/ Listen to your people Lord.
- For the poor, the sick and the handicapped, that in them we may recognize and welcome the suffering Lord himself, let us pray: R/ Listen to your people Lord.
- For those who are deaf and blind to other people and to their love and needs, that their eyes and ears may be opened to the treasures of love and sharing, let us pray:R/ Listen to your people Lord.
- For all of us, that our empty hearts may become spacious and generous, like doors open to all people and to all needs, let us pray: R/ Listen to your people Lord.
God our Father, listen to us as we pray to you in the name of Jesus our Lord. .R/ Amen.
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 oppressed.
Teach 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. R/ Amen.
Let us with one heart and voice give praise and thanks to our saving God. He showed the power of his love in Jesus, his Son, who did all things well. He has opened our ears to his Good News and made us capable of praising God in the name of all that lives.
Thankful for God's great deeds of love,
we cannot remain deaf or silent,
and so we let our tongues pray to our Father
in the words of Jesus, our Savior: R/ Our Father...
Deliver us, Lord, from all our infirmities,
from being deaf to your word
and blind to the needs of our brothers and sisters.
Make us responsive to your love
and help us to bring your joy
to all those around us,
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming in glory among us
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
This is Jesus the Lord
who came to heal us from sin's blindness
and to open our ears and hearts
to his Good News of God's love.
Happy are we to hear his voice
as we eat from his table. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
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.
He has done 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. R/ Amen.
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. R/ Amen.
Let us go in peace
and proclaim with our lives
the wonderful things God has done to us.R/ Thanks be to God.
