Sunday the 8th of September 2024 - Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 35:4-7/ Psalm 145(146)/ James 2:1-5/ Mark 7:31-37

‘There are none so blind as those who will not see', a saying that has been traced back to the 1500s and is itself based on an extract from the Prophet Jeremiah which reads, ‘they have eyes and do not see, they have ears but do not hear’. A theme running throughout scripture is one of social justice. The duty to care for the poor, sick, and needy. God chooses to minister first to those often despised by society, the outcasts. Our churches are furnished with wooden pews that can be quite uncomfortable; they are arranged so that all who attend are treated alike. The church building should be a leveller where popularity or status has no meaning. It therefore amuses me when we have a large event in our parish church and the seemingly great and good are ushered to the front seats, the seats that might be considered to afford some honour. The poor and lowly parishioners who occupy these seats at daily mass are relegated to anywhere else they can find, at the back or behind a pillar, or left without a seat at all. How blind and deaf to God speaking in scripture we can be? James, in the second reading, warns against dividing people into classes so that we do not become corrupt judges. This is not the Christian way that God calls us to. Privilege belongs to the poor, the chosen recipients of God’s favour, the elect of God’s reign.

When we refuse to hear God’s clear message, when we refuse to see what is happening in front of our eyes, when we fail to act in accordance with our calling to assist the oppressed, the poor, the sick, the homeless, the needy, we are those who have eyes but do not see, and ears but do not hear. We can be like little children who cover their ears and turn their eyes away from a parent asking them to do something. There are so many examples in our world where we fail to see, fail to hear, and fail to act. There are other occasions when we hear only what we choose, see only what we want, and act only in our own interests. Over two thousand years the church has developed teaching based on the word of God in scripture and the direct instructions and example left by Jesus which is a model for a just society. Does the world listen?

In the first reading today the prophet Isaiah, in one of his great poems, lays out the signs that will indicate the coming of the saving God, the promised Massiah. The blind will see, the deaf hear, and the dumb will sing for joy. Jesus, in the Gospel passage, continues to give clear signs that he is the promised Massiah through his miracles of making the deaf hear and the dumb speak. Although there is an understandable ‘singing for joy' at these miracles Jesus wishes his true identity to remain a secret until he is fully revealed through the resurrection. His three years of ministry is a time of preparation. Even with the signs that Jesus gave, the fulfilling of the scriptures long awaited, people chose then not to see and not to hear and it is the same today. We have a choice, to see, hear, believe, and act, or to turn away, not see, not listen, refuse to believe and fail to act.

In most of the miracles performed by Jesus he uses words and sometimes the subject is not even present. In the case of the man in today’s account Jesus becomes physically involved in the healing, placing his fingers in the man’s ears and spittle on his tongue. Looking up to heaven Jesus sighs as he says the words of healing. This is Jesus physically engaging with the humanity he has come to save. Not a remote and feared God but a God who is close and in direct contact with his people. This is an example of how Jesus gradually revealed himself to his followers and to the world. The full revealing would not come until after his resurrection which is why he ordered them to say nothing about it at that stage. Such activity cannot be suppressed and so it was spoken about widely allowing people to gradually understand that the prophesies of the Old Testament were being fulfilled in Jesus.

The message for today is summoned up in the psalm. It highlights the concern God has for those who suffer in society calling them to trust in the God who has displayed his power and fidelity. God shows his concern for the oppressed and hungry, the blind, widows, and orphans. He will deal justly with the self-obsessed and the cunning. It is those seen by society in general as the least among them who will be the main beneficiaries of God’s loving justice.

Jesus used his healing miracles to show that he was God and that he was engaged in the battle between good and evil. The final triumph was to overcome death itself leading us all through his resurrection into everlasting life. To understand the message brought by Jesus we must hear it and see it. There is a difference between listening and hearing. Listening requires attentiveness whereas simply hearing does not. We hear a lot of music as we go about our lives, in shops, restaurants, and even lifts. This is background noise, and we hear but don’t listen to it. If we go to a concert, we pay attention to what we hear, we concentrate on it and we listen to the message it gives.

We hear God’s word speaking to us, but do we listen to it? Is our attention and will lacking? Is God’s word overwhelmed by the distracting noise of the world around us? God’s word is always present to us, in scripture, in the sacraments, in church teaching, in our Christian faith, and yes in the eyes of the poor and needy. Today we can start by listening to James and turn away from the ways of the world around us. Let us not judge others by our own standards but rather try and live our own lives to the standards set for us by Jesus.

God Bless Brendan