In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
One morning about a month ago, I was stopped at one of the many red lights along my route to church. As the morning news was airing on the radio, I happened to look to my right and noticed that in the car next to me was a couple speaking with each other in sign language. I have seen this before. As the light changed and the cars continued down Mass. Ave., I noticed that this couple sat in silence while their car was moving but would enthusiastically communicate with each other at each red light along the way and I thought this was wonderful to see. They communicated with each other out of love and their love radiated from their expressive faces.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus connects with the world of the deaf. He encounters a deaf man, who was all but forgotten by society. I can’t imagine just how challenging that silent world must be—not being able to hear what is going on, unable to detect sound, not being able to communicate with ease, but notice how He treats this man. He approaches him very gently. He touches him. He touches the man’s ears and the man began to hear and he began to speak for the first time in his life. It’s an emotional moment that took place 2,000 years ago.
So, we have to ask: Why was this story considered important enough to be included in the Gospels? This man was shunned by society and yet his story lives on. But why? I believe this story is to inspire us to ask these questions: Is it possible for sighted people not to see the troubles around them? Can people who speak remain silent about the needs of others? Can those who hear, choose not to listen to the cries around them?
The reading today reminds us that we are to use the gifts of sight and sound and speech to see as Christ sees, to hear as He hears and to speak as He speaks. He calls us to look beneath outer appearances and see the Image of God inside every human being, to look past the clothes and skin color, to look past the wealth or lack of wealth and see the person on the inside.
Each person is valued in the eyes of God and we will never look into the eyes of someone whom God does not love. Can we see in others what God sees? That is a question for each of us. We have the gift of hearing, not just to hear but to listen. We have the gift of speech, not to tear people down but to build them up. We have the gift of speech to talk hope and spread hope into the lives of others.
This story is in the Bible to show us that we all play a part in healing this world and we are to use our God-given gifts to help better the lives of those around us. It is our place to see those people society doesn’t “see.” It is our place to listen to those people society disregards or ignores or marginalizes and those to whom the events of life have not been kind. When we do these things, our Christian faith thrives. Something for all of us to think about over our long weekend. God is calling us to make our world a better place and we are to use our gifts to make it so.
Amen.