Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

September 5, 2021

First Reading (Isaiah 35: 4-7)

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.

Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 146: 5-10)

Refrain: Praise the Lord, my soul.

1) The God of Jacob keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed;
Gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. (Refrain)

2) 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. (Refrain)

3) 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. (Refrain)

Second Reading (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?

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."

Copyright 1970, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2001 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. Washington D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The English translation of some Psalm responses, some Alleluia and Gospel verses and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, some Summaries, and the Titles and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass copyright 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc., Washington D.C. All rights reserved.

The poetic English translation of the sequences of the Roman Missal are taken from the Roman Missal approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States, copyright 1964 by the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission of ICEL]

Stories:

Helen Keller, (see Be Open, by Bill Bausch)

The Beggar King (see last week's homily).

Sources:

Catechism: #2464-2474 (To live in the truth and bear witness to the truth). United States Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C.: 1994. (As recommended in: A Homily Sourcebook (The Universal Catechism), by N. Abeyasingha. The Pastoral Press, Washington, D.C.: 1993.)

Homiletic Ideas:
Barclay's Comments

- (Mark) When Jesus had completed his miracle, the people declared that he had done all things well. That is none other than the verdict of God upon his own creation in the very beginning (Gen.1:31). When Jesus came, bringing healing to men's bodies and salvation to their souls, he had begun the work of creation all over again. In the beginning, everything had been good; man's sin had spoiled it all; and now Jesus was bringing back the beauty of God to the world which man's sin had rendered ugly.

- (James) Acts of favoritism: It is not that Christ and the Church do not want the great and the rich and the wise and the mighty; we must beware of an inverted snobbery, as we have already seen. But it was the simple fact that the gospel offered so much to the poor and demanded so much from the rich, that it was the poor who were swept into the Church. It was, in fact, the common people who heard Jesus gladly and the rich young ruler who went sorrowfully away because he had great possessions. James is not shutting the door on the rich--far from that. He is saying that the gospel of Christ is specially dear to the poor and that in it there is a welcome for everyone who has no one to welcome them, and that through it, there is a value set on everyone whom the world regards as valueless.

- In the society which James inhabited the rich oppressed the poor. They dragged them to the law-courts for the payment of their debts. At the bottom end of the social scale men were so poor that they could hardly live and moneylenders were plentiful and extortionate. In the ancient world there was a custom of summary arrest. If a creditor met a debtor on the street, he could seize him by the neck of his robe, nearly throttling him, and literally drag him to the law-courts. That is what the rich did to the poor. They had no sympathy; all they wanted was the uttermost farthing. It is not riches that James is condemning; it is the conduct of riches without sympathy.

The great characteristic of God is his complete impartiality. Both the Old and New Testament unite in condemning partiality of judgment and favoritism of treatment which comes from giving undue weight to a person's social standing, wealth or worldly influence. In the Law it was written, "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor" (Lev.19:15). "The rich and the poor meet together," says Proverbs, "the Lord is the maker of them all" (Prov.22:2). (2)

It is against this backdrop that James is speaking. God not only works through the unlikeliest of things and symbols, but also through the most unexpected of people . There is a song called Morning Glory which was written back in the 70's by a folk singer named Tim Buckley. In the song, he talks about a lonely man in his house who places candles in his windows as a sign of welcome (much as we do at Christmas as a sign of welcoming Christ). A hobo approaches his house, a hobo whom I view as a Christ-figure. The Hobo challenges the man to accept him as he is; but the man does not want to be challenged, he merely wants someone to keep him company and go along with his unreal but comfortable way of life. He wants to be humored with stories, but the hobo presents him with stark reality. So the man sees the defenses he has so carefully built to keep reality out, his "fleeting house", disintegrating around him. The song goes like this:

Before He came I felt Him drawing near
And as He neared I felt the ancient fear
That He had come to wound my door and jeer
And I waited in my fleeting house.

"Tell me stories," I called to the Hobo;
"Stories of cold," I smiled at the Hobo;
"Stories of old," I knelt to the Hobo;
And He stood before my fleeting house.

"No," said the Hobo, "no more tales of time,
Don't ask me now to wash away the grime;
I can't come in 'cause it's too high a climb."
And He walked away from my fleeting house.

"Then you be damned," I screamed to the Hobo;
"Leave me alone," I wept to the Hobo;
"Turn into stone," I knelt to the Hobo;
And he walked away from my fleeting house. (1)

A few years ago, we lost two wonderful women who fully recognized how God came to them: in the poorest of the poor in India, in those suffering from AIDS, in the homeless. After their deaths, the media was full of stories told by those whose lives had been touched by Princess Di and Mother Teresa, the common people of whom there are so many.

1. Morning Glory, by Buckley and Beckett. Third Story Music, BMI.

Short Labor Day Homily

Being God's Spittle

If we look back through the Bible, we will see that God has accomplished his will in the most unexpected of ways. For instance, in the Second Book of Kings, we hear of the cure of Naaman, a leper. He was told by Elisha, the prophet, to wash seven times in the Jordan and he would be cleansed. But he would not do it at first, saying that there were many cleaner rivers in which to wash than the Jordan. However, he went reluctantly and did as Elisha had told him and he was cured. The waters may not have been the cleanest, but they were the means God had chosen to work his cure.

In the same way, Jesus uses spittle to heal the deaf man. Certainly, our Lord could have healed him without using it, but I believe the message of his actions is the same as it was to Naaman: don’t presume to know the ways that God will accomplish his will. The comedian Paul Reiser has an interesting bit about the use of saliva in every day life. He writes:

So as you can see, saliva is the stuff of which miracles are made. And so are muddy rivers (didn’t John baptize in the Jordan?). And isn’t common household olive oil blessed and used for anointing the sick? The idea is that through these symbols, we are submitting our own will to the will of God. And through these symbols, God works wonders.

As we celebrate Labor Day tomorrow and prepare to return to our jobs and school (if we haven’t done so already!), we need to ask ourselves some tough questions. Are we doing the best that we can do in our jobs or just doing enough to “get by”? Are we reflecting Christian values in what we do or not so much? Or, for our school age children, if you see bullying in school, are you doing anything about it?

So if you see any bullying, perhaps just speaking to that victim might help them to feel better about themselves and the situation.

The bottom line is that we all have talents and skills which may lie under an exterior that is not always so pretty. And yet, as unattractive as we might be, or others might be, we can be God’s “spit” in the lives of others which helps to bring out the best in them. May God bless you in your efforts now and through the upcoming year!!

Reference:

1. Couplehood, by Paul Reiser, p. 330. Bantam Books, New York, 1994. (Quoted in Homiletics, by Dr. Leonard Sweet. Communication Resources, 4150 Belden Village Street NW, Suite 400, Canton, Ohio 44799-6115.)

Homily #2

You Can't Tell a Book by Its Cover

or

Unusual Things, Unusual People

Once again in today's liturgy, we find a strong relationship between the three scripture lessons and the psalm. In the gospel, we hear our Lord curing the deaf man, which is really fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah mentioned in the first reading: "the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped". The psalmist says that "the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down". And we could very easily take our Lord's words to the deaf man "be opened" and append them to the end of the second reading from the letter of James. Today, I would like to take a closer look at the gospel of Mark and the letter from James.

If we look back through the Bible, we will see that God has accomplished his will in the most unexpected of ways. For instance, in the Second Book of Kings, we hear of the cure of Naaman, a leper. He was told by Elisha, the prophet, to wash seven times in the Jordan and he would be cleansed. But Naaman refused to do it at first, saying that there were many cleaner rivers in which to wash than the Jordan. However, he went reluctantly and did as Elisha had told him and he was cured. The waters may not have been the cleanest, but they were the means God had chosen to work his cure.

In the same way, Jesus uses spittle to heal the deaf man. Certainly, our Lord could have healed him without using it, but I believe the message of his actions is the same as it was to Naaman: don't presume to know the ways that God will accomplish his will. The comedian Paul Reiser has an interesting bit about the use of saliva in every day life.

So as you can see, saliva is the stuff of which miracles are made. And so are muddy rivers (didn't John baptize in the Jordan?). And isn't common household olive oil blessed and used for anointing the sick? The idea is that through these symbols, we are submitting our own will to the will of God. And through these symbols, God works wonders.

But Christ does not come to us only through things. He also comes to us through people. In the second reading, James discusses favoritism and the dangers it poses for the Church. In its early days, the Church predominantly consisted of the poor; therefore, if a rich man was converted, there must have been a very real temptation to make a fuss of him and treat him as a special trophy for Christ. However, James is emphasizing here that the Church must be the one place where all distinctions of rank and prestige are irrelevant. Everyone is created equal in the sight of God and nowhere should that be more evident than around the table of the Lord.

Abraham Lincoln once said: "God must love the common people because he made so many of them." In fact, Christianity has always had a special message for the poor.

In fact, after the learned of the Jews rejected the teachings of Jesus and banished him from the synagogues, he took his message on the road to the common people. As he demonstrated time and again during his public ministry, those who mattered to no one else mattered intensely to God. (2)

I believe the lesson we can derive from today's gospel is that Christ comes to us in ways we least expect and through things and people we least expect. As James reminds us, the people through whom God works do not come to us in finery, but most often in rags and in poverty.

We are challenged every day of our lives to treat the poor, the homeless and the handicapped as equals. We are challenged to welcome them as we would welcome members of our own family, because they ARE members of our family, members of our family in the Body of Christ. We need to take our Lord's words to the deaf man to heart and learn to "be open" to others. Christ comes to us every day. As we have seen and heard today, the Lord accomplishes his will through the most unusual things and the most unusual people.

References:

1. Couplehood, by Paul Reiser, p. 330. Bantam Books, New York, 1994. (Quoted in Homiletics, by Dr. Leonard Sweet. Communication Resources, 4150 Belden Village Street NW, Suite 400, Canton, Ohio 44799-6115.)

2. The Epistle of James, by William Barclay. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1975. 

(Copyright 2012 by the Spirit through Deacon Sil Galvan, with a little help from the friends noted above. Permission is freely granted for use, in whole or in part, in oral presentations. For permission to use in writing, please contact the human intermediary at deaconsil@comcast.net.)

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

September 5, 2021

Penitential Rite

Lord Jesus, you opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf. Lord, have mercy.

Christ Jesus, you have taught us to treat one another equally as brother and sisters in your Mystical Body. Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, open our ears to hear your Word and our lips to sing your praises. Lord, have mercy.

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

September 5, 2021

Prayers of the Faithful

Celebrant: Our Lord heard the prayers of the deaf man and healed him of his affliction. Therefore, confident that Christ will intercede for us, we bring our prayers and petitions to the Father.

Deacon/Lector: Our response is "Lord, hear our prayer."

That the leaders of the Church will be attentive to the special needs of those with disabilities, we pray to the Lord.

That the leaders of the nations of the world will do all in their power to eliminate terrorism from the face of the earth, we pray to the Lord.

That the members of the Church will care for the needs of others, especially for the sick and the elderly, we pray to the Lord.

That all Christian believers will remove from their hearts any trace of prejudice or favoritism, we pray to the Lord.

That on this Labor Day weekend, we will renew our efforts to make our work pleasing in God's sight, we pray to the Lord.

That all of our brothers and sisters will be treated as our equals in the sight of God regardless of their race, color, nationality or religion, we pray to the Lord.

That all of those who have contracted the Corona virus will be healed, that those who have died will be welcomed into the loving arms of their Savior who suffered for them and that their grieving families will find strength in their faith, we pray to the Lord.

For all of the intentions we hold in our hearts and which we now recall in silence. (Pause) For all of these intentions, we pray to the Lord.

Celebrant: Eternal Father, you love us and hear our prayers. Help us to open our hearts to the gospel message of your Son, so that one day we may inherit the kingdom prepared for us from all eternity. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.