Today’s Liturgy of the Word presents a compassionate God who unmistakably says that all lives matter.  God makes no distinctions between classes of people.  The Scriptures reveal a God who makes the poor rich in faith.

In the first Scripture reading from the prophet Isaiah,  “Thus says the Lord:  Say to those whose hearts are frightened:  Be strong, fear not!  Here is your God, He comes to save you.”

Isaiah serves as God’s mouthpiece, encouraging the people to be stronger than their fears because God is coming to save.  This is such an important truth that is to mark our discipleship of the Lord Jesus.  We are to be stronger than our fears.

The fear the Israelites were told to avoid was the paralysis that comes from relying on self rather than on God; this is the type of fear that strangles faith and prevents growth.  Fear not, urged the ancient prophet.  Look instead at God, who comes to save.

How does it go with the fears of our lives?  Do you have a fear that you don’t have the finances that you need?  Do you have a fear about a brokenness in a significant relationship?  Do you have a health fear for yourself or someone you love?  Do you have a fear that your addiction is getting the best of you?

May these fears be transformed into a trust that through God’s grace we are stronger than our fears.

In the Letter of James, the apostle is clear:  Show no partiality as you adhere to the faith.  It is our blessing to serve the needs of one and all regardless of how they are dressed or regardless of their social status.  God chooses the poor to enjoy the gift of faith and become heirs of the kingdom.

In the Gospel, the people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. 

There is a simple challenge for all of us in this one sentence.  Have we brought anyone to Jesus lately, physically and in prayer?  Is there anyone we should invite and pray for?  Do you have anyone you would recommend to participate in the parish RCIA?

All of us are missioned to bring people to Jesus.  As a parent, you are missioned to bring your children to Jesus.  As a community of faith, we are missioned to help bring each other to the Lord.

A second sentence in the Gospel worth noting:  “Then Jesus took the man with the speech impediment off by himself away from the crowd.“

Do you ever think that Jesus is eager to lead you off by yourself and away from the crowd.  If only we allow him.  There, in quiet intimacy, he invites us to show him our deepest wound, our greatest need, our most shameful sin.  When we dare to do so, we are met with no reproach, no condescension , no impatience.  On the contrary, we are welcomed with love, tended with prayer and patience and either healed or made stronger for the burden that is ours to bear.

In your prayer, allow yourself to be alone with Jesus.  Speak to him from your heart and allow God’s unconditional love to be showered upon you.

In the sacrament of his Baptism, the newly baptized is blessed on his ear so that he will always be able to hear the Word of God throughout his life.  What an awesome God.  As the community of the baptized, we have all received this blessing on our ears to hear God’s Word throughout our lives.

But like the deaf person in the Gospel account, we sometimes have a hearing failure.  And I don’t mean that it is a defect in our mike system – that occasionally happens.  What I mean is that we can too easily have a spiritual hearing impediment that keeps from hearing the Word of God in our lives.

Hearing isn’t just a physical act.  We hear a lot of things and don’t really listen to the one who is speaking.  All of us received that blessing of our ears on the day of our baptism.  The journey of faith for all of us is to actualize more and more the grace given to us at our Baptism.  We are God’s beloved sons and daughters.  The love of God lies deep within our hearts.  The blessing on our ears to hear and respond to the Word of God is a lifelong process.

Genuine listening is one of the greatest acts of generous love.  We indeed know we are loved when we are listened to.  May we listen to the Word of God that comes in the Scriptures.   May we listen with great love to our God and to one another.

 Our smart phones are the way many of us communicate by text and email with one another, is it not.  Our phones are very, very smart.  How many of us email and text one another several times during the day.  Would that we have a spiritual smart phone in which we text and email Jesus several times during the day.  And yet, this is the meaning of prayer.  Our spiritual smart phone is located deep within us  --  in our hearts.

May we rely on our spiritual smart phone of our prayer life as often as text and email our best friends.

As is spoken in the children’s classic The Little Prince, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.  What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

The miracle of the cure of the deaf person serves as a call to all of us not to be deaf of the message of the Gospel.  In the Gospel man, the first word that was heard by the one who was healed was:  “Ephphatha --  that is, be opened.”  That word is spoken to us as well today:  Ephphatha --  Be Opened.  Be open to hearing and listening to the Word of God.  How is the Lord speaking to me today and how is the Lord speaking to you today and how is the Lord speaking to us together today as a community of faith?  The grace we ask for today is the grace of Ephphatha.

As the psalmist tells us:  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.