Every Sunday, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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We can only speak of what we have heard and come to know.
So, today comes the Gospel story of the deaf man with a speech impediment. He is the symbol of many persons in today’s world.
What do I mean? Many people have not heard the word of God. Or, if they have, they have heard it proclaimed in a very distant and muddled fashion. So, when they speak of God, they have a type of speech impediment. Maybe that is true for all of us to one degree or another. This begs the question: what is it that keeps us from hearing God’s voice in our lives?
In any event, the man in today’s reading could not hear what Jesus was saying, so how could he ever be able to proclaim the Gospel to others? Jesus will take care of that problem.
First, Jesus takes the man with him “away from the crowd.” The first step is to encounter Jesus without the distractions and noise of so many other things so that we can focus our attention on him. We must come into the space of Jesus, which is the Church, where the Word is proclaimed, the liturgy is celebrated, theology is studied, the saints inspire us, and focused prayer is encouraged.
Next, Jesus spoke over the man, “Ephpatha!” — that is, “Be opened!” And the man could hear again. But that is not all. We read that his speech impediment was removed “and he spoke plainly.” He could finally speak of what he had heard. Even though Jesus was not ready for the word to get out about him, even ordering them not to speak of the miracle to others, we read, “the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.” How can anyone be silent after they have met someone as great and awesome as Jesus? Once we have heard Jesus’ voice in our lives, we are compelled to proclaim him to others.
Let us ask Jesus to give us the grace to remove our spiritual ear wax so that we can hear his voice and accept his truth, and then tell about our experience with him boldly and persuasively to the world.
Finally, happy Labor Day! May the Lord give success to the work of our hands.
Have a blessed week everyone.