Today is one of those miracle
stories that end with-“what you have experienced keep to
yourself.”
The Kingdom has begun, shuhhhh ….. keep it quiet.
It’s called by biblical scholars – Mark’s Messianic
secret.
Why keep it secret? One reason that
seems right to me is that Israel was waiting for the kingly messiah that would defeat
by the sword the Romans and bring glory to Israel. And as we heard in Isaiah the miracles Jesus
was doing were certainly signs that the messiah had come. But Jesus was clear that he was no military political
solution, nor a cultural solution, or an economic solution. Jesus, who preached the kingdom of
God, was and is, a human solution.
This human solution works inside
out, not nation by nation, but person by person, heart by heart, each
individual hearing good news and responding to it by freely choosing to BEGIN
to love God and neighbor in a completely new, committed and radical way. Jesus changes everything. To follow him is nothing less than a
transformation of self (being). This personal transformation and
ongoing discipleship is not, detached, self-centered or escapist. It does not run away from the
political, the cultural, the social, the economic or any aspect of our lives.
Jesus’ solution, the Good News, informs
all our choices and directs our actions outwards towards the good of others and
we measure everything by its message. We measure everything against a
message of radical love expressed in a uncommon concern for the common good and
the continual reaching out to all those in need.
Jesus’ solution heals
Like the healed man today our
senses, our tools of perception, how we know the world are made new.
Like the healed man our ears can
now hear and discern self-evident truth.
Like the healed man the impediment to
(good and honest) speech was removed. We
are able to speak words that are not self-serving, self-aggrandizing, or
spiteful, but words that reflect the Gospel truth.
And even in speaking the truth they do not
wound, but heal.
Ephphatha - Be
Open. Jesus’s command seems to direct the
entire Christian experience.
Be open – is the condition of a new
heart.
Be open - to the movement of God,
through the person of Christ and in the activity of the Holy Spirit everywhere in
our lives, especially where we least expect it.
Be open - to the potential within
each person to be fulfilled as God wants us to be fulfilled.
Be open to the virtue of Hope that
is offered to all of us, as children of God.
Isaiah says it another way “Be
strong, fear not” In today’s 1st reading
there is a real sense of Hope for the Israelites that something new was happening
in their lives. Isaiah calls it divine
recompense. It is simply God’s reward
for Faith.Isaiah calls on the faithful to be
strong. Being strong is to be solid and stable and centered, but according to
Webster’s it is also; active, dynamic, energetic, steadfast, persistent and
even more appropriately – bright and
dazzling.
Isaiah continues, be strong and do
not fear for God, comes to save. We, God’s creation, that God
himself found very good, are not forgotten or abandoned, as an old plaything. The God who creates is the God who loves his
creation and because he loves – He saves. God comes and he comes in unimaginable
love.
And we (though it often doesn’t
seem like it) are created to respond to his love.
“He comes” is a clear indication that God is already
on the move accomplishing what is destined to be accomplished. “He will” shows he comes with purpose,
to act in this world within our human condition.
The responsorial shows us this
purpose; to keep faith, secure justice, feed the hungry, set captives free,
give sight, protect strangers, sustain the orphan & the widow.
This great unimaginable self-gift
of God to you and I is Jesus, Emmanuel “God is with us”.
And because Jesus is God with us,
He does God’s work amongst us. He does heal, he does feed, He sustains
and he saves. All this and more. God in the person of Jesus Christ always
reached out to heal and save and in the activity of the Holy Spirit still reaches
out to the deaf and dumb, the blind and the lame, the poor and the outcast. Both literally in the physical
miracles that still happen and metaphorically, when our ears are opened to hear
his truth and to hear each other. When our
mouths are open to speak his truth and speak up against injustices to the poor
and the outcast. He reaches out and embraces all of us
in our infirmities, our wounds, and weakness saying - Ephphatha - be open. And be healed. And in this newness, continue my work in your
time and place among your brothers and sisters.
But, in our joy let’s not forget
the small but important adverb in today’s Gospel – IMMEDIATELY.
Immediately the man’s ears were
open and his speech impediment was removed and he spoke plainly.
Over and over we hear in the
Gospels that word – Immediately; someone follows Jesus,
immediately someone is healed. Immediately a life is changed, but we
must remember immediately doesn’t mean - DONE.
In the second reading James gives
us a glimpse at the ongoing work that immediately responding to Jesus demands “show no partiality” “ do not Judge” because “Did not God choose those who are poor in the
world to be heirs of the Kingdom’s.” This is what strength, courage and
openness looks like. It looks like Faith, Hope, and Charity. It looks like love.
In this strength, and guided by the Holy Spirit, we will always
strive do the right thing, to recognize the better good, grasp the bigger
picture and to look to the horizon beyond our vision.
To be open, in Christ, is the
freedom to sacrifice for each other, wither spouse, family, neighbor, friend or
stranger. To lay down one’s life for the common good and that is a foretaste of
the Kingdom of God.
And this is immediate. Work, here and now, for there is no
better time or place or people to do us work.
But, work not in the darkness of guilt or fear,
but in the brightness of hope and love. Show no partiality, because God doesn’t.
He comes simply to save.Eyes of the blind will be open and
ears of the deaf will be cleared and the tongue of the mute will sing” Indeed God is with us - and these good
things - will happen.
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