September 8, 2024: Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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.”

Reflection

Really, Jesus? You dramatically cure a deaf man with a speech impediment and you “order them not to tell anyone?” The Gospel captured the moment perfectly: “they were exceedingly astonished” and they immediately proclaimed the fact that not only did he cure the man but that Jesus “did all things well!” I reminded myself that God does all things well on my behalf each day! During this 2024 Season of Creation, from September 1 to October 4, I want to be more attentive to the gifts of nature: the extraordinary sunrises and sunsets, the plethora of colors in flowers, a monarch butterfly or pollinating bees. John Ruskin, in Works, vol. 5, wrote: “The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way …. To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion — all in one.”  

Action

Each day this week, get out and enjoy the gifts of nature, if even for a brief time. Take it one step further: proclaim the beauty you have experienced to others or invite someone to companion you on a walk or stroll.