Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
It-23 Ħadd matul is-Sena
Messalin B pp 458
Isaiah 35:4-7a
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. This is the Word of the Lord
L-Ewwel Qari
Qari mill-Ktieb tal-Profet 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
Responsorial Psalm
PSALM 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
R. (1b) Praise the
Lord, my soul!
The God of
Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures
justice for the oppressed,
gives food
to the hungry.
The LORD
sets captives free. R/
.
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/
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/
Salm Responsorjali
Salm 145 (146)
R/ Faħħar, ruħ tiegħi, il-Mulej!
Il-Mulej
iżomm kelmtu għal dejjem,
jagħmel
ħaqq lill-maħqurin,
u jagħti
l-ħobż lill-imġewħin.
Il-Mulej
jeħles lill-imjassrin. R/
Il-Mulej
jiftaħ għajnejn il-għomja;
il-Mulej
jerfa' lill-milwijin;
il-Mulej
iħobb lill-ġusti;
il-Mulej
jħares lill-barranin. R/
Hu li jżomm lill-iltim u ill-armla,
imma
lill-ħżiena jħarbatilhom triqathom
Il-Mulej
isaltan għal dejjem;
Alla
tiegħek, Sijon, minn
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? This is the Word of the Lord
It-Tieni Qari
Qari mill-Ittra ta' San 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 li 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
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 mpediment 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." This is the Word of
the Lord
L-Evanġelju
Qari mill-Evanġelju skont San Mark 7, 31-37
F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu',
telaq mill-inħawi tal-belt ta' Tir, għadda minn
Sidon minn
//////////////////////////////////
Quality Communication
A reflection by Fr Thomas Rosica csb
In the
magnificent piece of biblical poetry in Isaiah 35:4-7 (Sunday's first reading)
the prophet Isaiah announces the end of the Babylonian captivity.
The Exodus
of God's people from bondage in Egypt Egypt
A second
Exodus is in store, symbolized by the healing granted to the blind, the lame,
and the mute, and new life to the dead. Delivered and saved by God, all peoples
shall return to their own land by way of the desert, in a new exodus. Isaiah
prophecies that there shall be one, pure road, and it will be called the way of
holiness upon which the redeemed shall walk.
In the
midst of the desert, streams will break forth. God's saving power also embraces
afflicted humans, healing every ill that comes upon people. Isaiah addressed
specific afflictions that God would heal: "then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a
deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy."
Isaiah's
prediction of this abundant, new life underlies Mark's understanding of Jesus'
cure of "a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech" (Mark
7:31-37]). Mark's story of the healing of this hearing and speech impaired man
invites us to consider some important points about sickness and suffering in
the New Testament.
Sick people
in the Bible are those who have fallen from an appropriate human state or
condition of human integrity or wholeness. Jesus heals people by restoring them
to a proper state: Those who are leprous are made clean, blind people see, mute
persons speak, etc.
We have
little information about how Jesus' healings episodes were accomplished. Jesus
did not perform miracles as someone waving a magic wand or clicking his
fingers. The man cured by Jesus was deaf and dumb; he could not communicate
with others, hear his voice and express his feelings and needs. The sigh
uttered by Jesus at the moment of touching the ears of the deaf man tells us
that he identified with people's suffering; he participated deeply in their
misfortune and made it his own burden.
We learn by hearing and listening
Sight deals
with things, while hearing deals with human beings. Sight has to do with
science, with observation, with objectivity. Hearing has to do with personal
relationships, with subjectivity. When I use my eyes to look at people or
things, I am in complete control of the information that comes to me, for I can
shut my eyes when I wish. When I am reading the words of scripture by myself, I
can close my eyes and stop reading. But the ear is unlike the eye. I cannot
shut my ear. The only way I can stop the sound is to leave the room!
We learn
about other people by hearing and listening to what they have to say. Language
reveals the inside of another person, something sight can never do. If we want
to learn about God, we must listen to His Word with all our heart, all our soul
and all our mind. Looking at
Him, if it were possible, would not tell us anything. After all, Satan appeared
as an angel of light, while God appeared as the broken, mangled body of a young
man dying on a cross. Who would have believed this without eyes and ears of
faith?
When we
read the Bible, do we "hear" what it says? The Bible does not tell us
to read the Word of God but to hear it, to listen to it. That is the great
Jewish prayer: "Shema ,
Israel
Biblical
faith cannot be individualistic but must be communal. Speaking and hearing
involve mutual submission. Mutual respect and submission is the essence of
community, and the only way I can get away from hearing is to leave the room,
to leave the community and go off by myself. Sadly this is the case for many
who have left the Church community and claim to have found freedom, autonomy,
and truth in solitude, away from the community of faith!
What they
have found is not solitude, but loneliness, selfishness and rugged
individualism. Authentic hearing and listening involve submission to authority
and membership in community.
Physical and spiritual deafness
The healing
stories reflect Jesus' intimate, powerful relationship with God and his great
compassion. He healed with words, touch and physical means. Physical deafness
and spiritual deafness are alike; Jesus confronted one type in the man born
deaf, the other type in the Pharisees and others who were unreceptive of his
message. Jesus was concerned not only with physical infirmity but also spiritual
impairment and moral deafness.
Our
contemporary world has grown deaf to the words of Jesus, but it is not a
physical deafness, it is a spiritual deafness caused by sin. We have become so
used to sin that we take it as normal and we have become deafened and blinded
to Jesus and his daily call to us.
If deafness
and dumbness consist in the inability to communicate plainly with one's
neighbor or to have good relationships, then we must acknowledge that each of
us is in some way impaired in our hearing and speech. What decides the quality
of our communication, hearing and speech is not simply to speak or not to speak
or hear, but to do so or not to do so out of love.
We are
blind and deaf when we show favoritism or discrimination because of the status
and wealth of other people (see James 2:1-5). We fail to recall that divine
favor consists in God's election and promises (James 2:5).
We are deaf
when we do not hear the cry for help raised to us and we prefer to put
indifference between our neighbor and ourselves. In doing so we oppress the
poor and blaspheme the name of Christ (James 2:6-7).
Parents are
deaf when they do not understand that certain dysfunctional behaviors of their
children betray deep-seated cries for attention and love.
We are deaf
when turn inward and close ourselves to the world because of selfishness,
pride, resentment, anger, jealousy and our inability to forgive others.
We are deaf
when we refuse to recognize those who suffer in the world around us, and do not
acknowledge glaring situations of inequality, injustice, poverty and the
devastation of war.
We are deaf
when we refuse to hear the cry of the unborn, of those whose lives are in
danger because they are elderly, handicapped, and chronically ill, while others
wish to end their lives out of misguided mercy.
Today may
the words Jesus spoke over the deaf man be addressed once again to each of us:
"Ephphatha, be opened!" May our ears, eyes and hearts be opened to
the Gospel!
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