It-23 Ħadd matul is-Sena
Messalin B pp 458
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Thus says the LORD: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
L-1 Qari - Isaija 35, 4 – 7a
Għidu lil dawk b'qalbhom imbeżżgħa: "Agħmlu l-ħila, la tibżgħux! Araw, Alla tagħkom gej jitħallas; il-ħlas ta' Alla wasal; Hu stess ġej biex isalvakom." Imbagħad jinfetħu għajnejn il-għomja, jinfetħu widnejn it-torox. Imbagħad iz-zopp jaqbeż bħal għaqżiela u lsien l-imbikkma jinħall bil-ferħ. Iva, igelgel l-ilma fid-deżert, u l-widien fix-xagħri. L-art maħruqa tinbidel f'għadira, u l-art niexfa f'għejun ta' ilma ġieri. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
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Responsorial Psalm - Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations.
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
Salm Responsorjali - Salm 145 (146)
Il-Mulej iżomm kelmtu għal dejjem,
jagħmel ħaqq lill-maħqurin,
u jagħti l-ħobż lill-imġewħin.
Il-Mulej jeħles lill-imjassrin.
R/ Faħħar, ruħ tiegħi, il-Mulej!
Il-Mulej jiftaħ għajnejn il-għomja;
il-Mulej jerfa' lill-milwijin;
il-Mulej iħobb lill-ġusti;
il-Mulej jħares lill-barranin.
R/ Faħħar, ruħ tiegħi, il-Mulej!
Hu li jżomm lill-iltim u ill-armla,
imma lill-ħżiena jħarbatilhom triqathom
Il-Mulej isaltan għal dejjem;
Alla tiegħek, Sijon, minn nisel għal nisel.
R/ Faħħar, ruħ tiegħi, il-Mulej!
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Reading 2- James 2:1-5
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please, " while you say to the poor one, "Stand there, " or "Sit at my feet, " have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?
It-2 Qari - Ġakbu 2, 1-5
Ħuti; tħallux il-fidi f'Ġesu' Kristu, il-Mulej tagħna tal-glorja. Mal-ħarsien lejn l-uċuħ. Għax jekk fil-laqgħa tagħkom jidħol xi ħadd biċ-ċrieket tad-deheb f'subgħajh u bi lbies ilellex, imbagħad jidħol xi ħaddieħor fqir liebes imċerċer, u intom idduru ma' dak bl-ilbies ilellex, u tgħidulu: "Int oqgħod komdu hawn bilqiegħda" waqt li lill-fqir tgħidulu: "Int oqgħod bilwieqfa" jew, "Oqgħod bilqiegħda fuq il-mirfes ta' riġlejja", ma jidhrilkomx li tkunu qegħdin tagħmlu għażla bejniethom, u hekk issiru mħallfin qarrieqa? Isimgħu, ħuti għeżież: mhux Alla kien għażel lill-foqra għad-dinja biex jistagħnu fil-fidi u jsiru werrieta tas-Saltna li hu wiegħed lil dawk li jħobbuh? Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
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Gospel - Mark 7:31-37
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."
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."
L-Evanġelju - Mark 7, 31-37)
F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu', telaq mill-inħawi tal-belt ta' Tir, għadda minn Sidon minn
"Effata", jiġifieri, "Infetaħ!" U minnufih widnejh infetħulu, l-irbit ta' lsienu nħallu u qabad jitkellem sewwa. Ġesu' wissiehom biex ma jgħidu lil ħadd; iżda aktar ma wissiehom, aktar bdew ixandruh. U mimlijin bil-għaġeb, bdew igħidu: "Kollox għamel tajjeb; jagħti s-smigħ lit-torox u l-kliem mill-imbikkmin!" Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
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A commentary by Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the Pontifical Household, on the liturgical readings for this Sunday's liturgical readings.
The passage of the Gospel refers us to a beautiful healing wrought by Jesus. "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" (Mark 7:32-35).
Jesus did not perform miracles as someone waving a magic wand or clicking his fingers. That sigh that escaped from him at the moment of touching the ears of the deaf man tells us that he identified with the people's sufferings; he participated intensely in their misfortune, made it his burden.
On one occasion, after Jesus had cured many sick people, the evangelist comments: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases" (Matthew 8:17).
Christ's miracles were never an end in themselves; they were signs. What Jesus once did for a person on the physical plane indicates what he wants to do every day for every person on the spiritual plane.
The man cured by Jesus was deaf and dumb; he could not communicate with others, hear his voice and express his feelings and needs. If deafness and dumbness consist in the inability to communicate plainly with one's neighbor, to have good and beautiful relationships, then we must acknowledge immediately that we are all more or less deaf and dumb, and this is why Jesus addressed to all that cry of his: Ephphatha, Be opened!
The difference is that physical deafness does not depend on the individual and he is altogether blameless, whereas moral deafness is blameworthy.
Today the term "deaf" is avoided and we prefer to speak of "auditive disability," precisely to distinguish the simple fact of not hearing about moral deafness.
We are deaf, to give an example, when we do not hear the cry for help raised to us and we prefer to put between ourselves and our neighbor the "double glaze" of indifference. Parents are deaf when they do not understand that certain strange and disordered attitudes of their children hide a cry for attention and love.
A husband is deaf when he cannot see in his wife's nervousness the sign of exhaustion or the need for a clarification. And the same applies to the wife.
We are deaf when we shut ourselves in, out of pride, in an aloof and resentful silence, while perhaps with just one word of excuse or forgiveness we could return peace and serenity to the home.
We men and women religious have times of silence in the day, and we sometimes accuse ourselves in confession, saying: "I have broken the silence." I think that at times we should accuse ourselves of the opposite and say: "I have not broken the silence."
What decides the quality of communication, however, is not simply to speak or not to speak, but to do so or not to do so out of love.St. Augustine
Here is a rule that is valid for all cases: "Love and do what you will." Be concerned to have love in your heart then, if you speak, it will be out of love, if you are silent it will be out of love, and everything will be alright because only good comes from love.
The Bible helps us to understand where the rupture of communication begins, where our difficulty originates to relate in a healthy and beautiful way to one another. While Adam and Eve were in good relations with God, their mutual relationship was also beautiful and ecstatic: "This is flesh of my flesh." As soon as their relationship with God was interrupted, through disobedience, the mutual accusations began: "It was he, it was she ..."
It is from there that one must begin again. Jesus came to "reconcile us with God" and thus to reconcile us with one another. He does so above all through the sacraments. The Church has always seen in the seemingly strange gestures that Jesus did with the deaf-mute (he put his fingers into his ears and touched his tongue) a symbol of the sacraments thanks to which he continues "touching" us physically to heal us spiritually.
That is why in baptism the minister carries out gestures on the one being baptized as Jesus did on the deaf-mute: He puts his fingers into his ears and touches the tip of his tongue, repeating Jesus' word: "Ephphatha, Be opened!"
The sacrament of the Eucharist in particular helps us to overcome the inability to communicate with our neighbor, making us experience the most wonderful communion with God. []
Jesus did not perform miracles as someone waving a magic wand or clicking his fingers. That sigh that escaped from him at the moment of touching the ears of the deaf man tells us that he identified with the people's sufferings; he participated intensely in their misfortune, made it his burden.
On one occasion, after Jesus had cured many sick people, the evangelist comments: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases" (Matthew 8:17).
Christ's miracles were never an end in themselves; they were signs. What Jesus once did for a person on the physical plane indicates what he wants to do every day for every person on the spiritual plane.
The man cured by Jesus was deaf and dumb; he could not communicate with others, hear his voice and express his feelings and needs. If deafness and dumbness consist in the inability to communicate plainly with one's neighbor, to have good and beautiful relationships, then we must acknowledge immediately that we are all more or less deaf and dumb, and this is why Jesus addressed to all that cry of his: Ephphatha, Be opened!
The difference is that physical deafness does not depend on the individual and he is altogether blameless, whereas moral deafness is blameworthy.
Today the term "deaf" is avoided and we prefer to speak of "auditive disability," precisely to distinguish the simple fact of not hearing about moral deafness.
We are deaf, to give an example, when we do not hear the cry for help raised to us and we prefer to put between ourselves and our neighbor the "double glaze" of indifference. Parents are deaf when they do not understand that certain strange and disordered attitudes of their children hide a cry for attention and love.
A husband is deaf when he cannot see in his wife's nervousness the sign of exhaustion or the need for a clarification. And the same applies to the wife.
We are deaf when we shut ourselves in, out of pride, in an aloof and resentful silence, while perhaps with just one word of excuse or forgiveness we could return peace and serenity to the home.
We men and women religious have times of silence in the day, and we sometimes accuse ourselves in confession, saying: "I have broken the silence." I think that at times we should accuse ourselves of the opposite and say: "I have not broken the silence."
What decides the quality of communication, however, is not simply to speak or not to speak, but to do so or not to do so out of love.
Here is a rule that is valid for all cases: "Love and do what you will." Be concerned to have love in your heart then, if you speak, it will be out of love, if you are silent it will be out of love, and everything will be alright because only good comes from love.
The Bible helps us to understand where the rupture of communication begins, where our difficulty originates to relate in a healthy and beautiful way to one another. While Adam and Eve were in good relations with God, their mutual relationship was also beautiful and ecstatic: "This is flesh of my flesh." As soon as their relationship with God was interrupted, through disobedience, the mutual accusations began: "It was he, it was she ..."
It is from there that one must begin again. Jesus came to "reconcile us with God" and thus to reconcile us with one another. He does so above all through the sacraments. The Church has always seen in the seemingly strange gestures that Jesus did with the deaf-mute (he put his fingers into his ears and touched his tongue) a symbol of the sacraments thanks to which he continues "touching" us physically to heal us spiritually.
That is why in baptism the minister carries out gestures on the one being baptized as Jesus did on the deaf-mute: He puts his fingers into his ears and touches the tip of his tongue, repeating Jesus' word: "Ephphatha, Be opened!"
The sacrament of the Eucharist in particular helps us to overcome the inability to communicate with our neighbor, making us experience the most wonderful communion with God. []
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