Reading I: Isaiah 35:4-7a
Reading II: James 2:1-5
GOSPEL: Mark 7:31-37
Be Opened
How afraid are you? Are you afraid of the dark? Afraid of dying? Afraid of losing your job? You might even be secretly afraid of killer bees. Every day the news media shows us countless images that strike fear into the hearts of even the most rational people. Jesus reminds us that the call to holiness is a call to “wholeness” in which fear has no place.
The Road to Utopia
God tells Isaiah to “say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!” It’s a nice thing to say, but whatever age you live in, there are lots of things to be afraid of. Yet God says that He comes to save.
What follows is a very poetic explanation by Isaiah of a new age that will come when God has His way. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, even the lame will leap like stags! (While that last one almost makes me laugh just thinking about it, I think I see what God is going for.)
Our God is a God of impossibilities. Out of a desert will come a stream. Out of a virgin, will come a savior. And last but certainly not least, out of the poor and feeble will come glory and strength.
Reach Out for the Healing Hand
In the gospel, Jesus is the person enacting God’s reign mentioned in Isaiah. As both God and man, he is restoring people to fullness.
You see, back in Jesus’ time, people saw any kind of physical ailment as a sign of sin. Surely a person who was doing what they were supposed to, would not be cursed by God by being blind or deaf. Sadly, some people today see afflictions such as AIDS in the same way. They view it as a punishment enacted by God.
But Jesus calls all people to holiness. However, even for a savior, the job isn’t easy. He has to spit and get his hands dirty. He even puts his fingers into the man’s ear. (Today, we would call this a wet willy.) It’s a bit gross, but this is the length to which Jesus is willing to go in order to bring wholeness to a person’s life!
Get Your Hands Dirty
In order to create the kind of paradise that Isaiah spoke of, we must be like Jesus. We must not let our fear get in the way of living. Amazingly enough, the more we know, the less we will fear.
The more we go back to the downtowns of our cities, the more we will see that they are not as bad as they are portrayed on the news. The more we support small local businesses, the more we will see pride in our community return. The more we work with people who are disabled, homosexual, or of a different race, the more we will see the value that they bring to God’s creation.
Jesus left us with plenty of work to do. He told the deaf man “be opened.” What we need to understand is that he’s telling us the same thing today!
Life Applications:
What is your biggest fear? How can God help you get past this fear?
What would a perfect world be like for you?
How can you help someone who is an outcast become a valued member of society?
Check out the REAL Word Podcast for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B):
Original article by Nick Popadich, 2003-2021.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.