Reflection for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 9, 2018
Reflection:
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In faith, we know that God, in his mercy, meets us and is with us wherever we are in life. However, sometimes our faith calls us to move somewhere else – to leave behind what is comfortable and familiar, in order to encounter Jesus more intimately. In this Sunday’s Gospel, St. Mark gives us an example. As Jesus passes through a district, he is stopped by the townspeople there who plead that he heals a local deaf man with a speech impediment. As we know, Jesus does heal him. Yet before he does, he leads the man away from everyone else… and the man follows, leaving behind the familiarity, commotion, and safety of the crowd to be alone with Jesus. It is then, in his great love, that Jesus opens up the man’s ears and heals his speech.
Where in our lives is Jesus calling us to step away from the crowd in order to encounter him more intimately? Where do we need Jesus to heal us? Are we willing to meet Jesus there, and let him open us, as the deaf man was? Together we pray for faith and courage, that we may follow Jesus away from the crowd to stillness, if even for a moment, to let ourselves be loved and healed by him.
Gospel: Mark 7: 31-37
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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.”
Hymn: Be Still and Know That I Am God (Steve Warner)
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God is a refuge and strength, a helper close at hand, close to my distress.
Be still and know that I am God; be still and know that I am God.
Consider the works of the Lord, the labors God has done: all conflict now will cease.
Be still and know that I am God; be still and know that I am God.
The Lord of creation is near, a stronghold deep within, “Be still and know God’s peace.”
Be still and know that I am God; be still and know that I am God.