Fr. Bob - Healing of the Deaf Mute
60% of the Gospel is healing stories and today is one of them. And about the miracles that Jesus performs, he didn’t perform miracles to prove anything or impress anybody. He performed then simply because he saw a need and compassion moved him to do something about it. Think of it. What if when we see a need compassion were to move us to do something about it? Think of the miracles that God could work through us. As we look at the story of the healing of the deaf mute, it reminds us that we have trouble hearing. At times we only hear what we want to hear. We need to open our heart so we can hear what God wants to say to us and what people want to say to us.
So, let’s take a look at how Jesus heals the man.The first thing Jesus does is to lead the man off to a quiet place away from the crowd. He wants to be fully present to the man. What distractions do I need to let go of to be fully present to the person speaking to me? If it’s the distraction of technology, then put away the handheld device in front of you. And then notice what Jesus does. He puts his fingers on the man’s ears. It’s right where he needs healing. Jesus touches us right where we need healing. Then Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears to block out distracting noise. What distracting noise do we need to block out if we’re to hear what God wants to say to us?
Next Jesus does something unusual. He puts spittle on the man’s tongue. We might think this a bit odd. But in fact, it’s a tender gesture. It’s what a mother does with her infant. Jesus is tender with us in the same way. (It helps to remember that, especially when we mess up badly). Then Jesus looks up to heaven and in prayer connects with his Father. And so, for us. Before taking on that challenge that feels more than we can handle in prayer we can connect with God, our power source.
Then as Jesus is praying, he feels the man’s pain so deeply that it causes him to groan. What if we were to eel another’s pain so deeply that it would cause us to groan? It’s like we ache for the one we pray for. Empathy like that is what is needed to slow down the explosive uprightness of the overreactive world we live in. A final thought. If saliva is a homeopathic that can heal a wound, s, compassion is the medicinal that can heal the soul So, as Jesus was with the deaf-mut this week let you heart be with the person who needs you. Be that for them and the divided world we live in suddenly feels a little less divided.
