Deaf Hear, Mute Speak

Homily for the Mass

23^rd Sunday (B)

Mk 7:31-37 He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.

The ability to hear and to speak are two great gifts. Like all gifts they can be taken for granted or even misused. They are connected. We see this especially in the case of the elderly. When their hearing goes they retreat into silence. In today’s Gospel the man who came to Jesus was deaf and also had the impediment in his speech. The latter may have been due to part to the former.

We see the trouble Jesus went to on behalf of this poor man, and the care with which he dealt with him. He took him away from the crowd so that he could deal with him in private and give him his undivided attention. Rather than speak to him, he touched his ears and tongue. Thus he made him feel what he could not hear.

The miracle has relevance for us, not because we are deaf or dumb (which happily most of us are not) but precisely because we have the gifts of hearing and speech. The fact that we have these gifts doesn’t mean we use them well. Many people are very poor listeners. And many people have difficulty expressing themselves. We can have ears and refuse to hear, or have a tongue and refuse to speak. So we need the Lords healing touch it we are to use these two precious gifts well.

The miracle is not so much about the physical healing of a man who was deaf or dumb. Rather, it’s about the opening of a person’s ears so that he may be able to hear the word of God; and the loosening of his tongue so that he may be able to profess faith in Jesus. A person could have perfect hearing, and yet not hear the word of God. And a person could have perfect speech, and be unable to make an act of faith.

From very early times the ceremony of touching the ears and the tongue made its way into the rite of Baptism, and is still there to this day. The minister touches the ears and mouth of the person being baptised and says, ‘The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and dumb speak. May he soon touch yours ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.’

We need to be able to hear the word of God. Then we need to be able to profess that word with our lips. Finally, we need to put it into practice in our lives. The word of God, when heard and acted on, is like seed falling on good soil; it makes our lives fruitful.

Fr. Aelred