Cycle B, Year II

9 September 2012: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Liturgical color: Green)

Mark 7:31-37

Jesus heals the whole person, body and soul!

In the heated discussion on the so called Reproductive Health or RH bill, the Church is unjustly criticized and even ridiculed for interfering in what these critics called "purely worldly" concerns of people. Their line of reasoning is that the Catholic Church should confine itself to what is strictly spiritual. But does man exist without his soul?

The Church teaches that God's saving act is the healing of the whole person, meaning his body and soul. It is in this spirit that we reflect on Jesus' healing of the deaf and mute man in today's gospel.

For people born with complete senses, there is the temptation to take for granted the gift of hearing and speech. But for a deaf man with speech impediment, that is a terrible curse! So the impaired man in the gospel literally begged Jesus to help and cure him. Because he was deaf, the man most likely had a speech impediment as well, and therefore couldn't speak for himself. So those who brought him to Jesus had great faith.

The gospel narrates that Jesus took him away from the crowd and said to him: "Ephphata!" which means "Be opened!". The story continues that "immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly." This is another great love story in which Jesus heals the broken and forsaken.

We, too, are deaf and mute if we do not open our hearts to the word of God through the teachings of the Church, and proclaim his kingdom here on earth. It is not enough that we profess our faith in Jesus but refuse to witness that faith in our lives, and do not share our faith with others.

The greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Thus, we become deaf and dumb as believers when we do nothing to help the less fortunate in our midst.

In the Eucharist we ask Jesus to open our ears to hear and receive his words, and loosen our tongues so we can praise God through our work of charity. So that as Jesus heals the whole person in us from being deaf and mute, we can no longer ask "who is my neighbor?" but rather ask "who acts as neighbor?" to those needing love and care.

A blessed  Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Cycle B, Year II

2 September 2012: 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Liturgical color: Green)

Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

Personal intimacy with the Lord!

After Jesus' discourses on himself as Bread of Life in chapter six of John, the liturgy goes back to the gospel according to Mark.

We hear a dispute between Jesus, the Pharisees (who were rigid defenders of the Jewish religion and traditions)   and scribes (the teachers of Jewish law). They question why some of Jesus' disciples do not observe religious traditions and customs of washing their hands before meals, and other Jewish traditions on purification handed down by their elders. For the Jewish people, their religious traditions form part of God's law.

But Jesus takes issues with the legalism and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes, who prefer to focus on the external or details of the law rather than the spirit or essentials of the law. So Jesus tells them that what counts most is inner personal holiness, or authentic relationship with God,  and not the scrupulous external observance of the law.

In other words, religious traditions and practices are fine but they are not substitute for our lack of personal intimacy  with the Lord. So the Church invites us to joyfully observe religious traditions not with rigid legalism or fear of committing sin but out of genuine love of God. Because observance of God's law is rooted in the love of God and must be an expression of that love.

The best criterion of any law is in fact the Greatest Commandment: love of God and love of neighbor by relating personal holiness to the care of the needy. Because genuine holiness is one that leads us to the service of others, particularly the less fortunate. Such act of concern and love for others is always a manifestation of an overflow of our inner relationship with God.

A blessed  Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.