Gospel Reflection for the Twenty Third Sunday of the Year

9th. September – The tender healing touch of Jesus

There has been in the past the idea that God in the Old Testament was cold, harsh, angry and judgemental; this is not the case. The first reading from the Prophet Isaiah says to us; ‘Courage! Do not be afraid. God is coming to save you. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like the deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy.’  What a wonderful description  of who God is and what God does for us. God is deeply and passionately concerned about  our welfare and well-being.

In the gospel, Jesus, continues this tender and compassionate concern as he heals the deaf man who has a speech impediment. As always, when Jesus meets anyone who is sick in any way; he reaches out and touches them where they need healing the most. This may sound like an obvious thing to do; but at the time of Jesus those who were deaf, dumb, blind crippled or who had leprosy where seen as sinners who were being punished by God. They were treated as being unclean and unable to take their place in the village or community. To touch them was to become unclean too. Jesus goes far beyond this religious and cultural taboo; he put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. The people who witnessed this would have been amazed, surprised and shocked. This is how Jesus reached out to those who were sick, poor or being ignored. When spoke to the woman who touched the hem of his garment; he called her ‘daughter.’  He brought her back into her community and into the Family of God.

In some way or other, each of us are carrying a pain or hurt that needs to be healed. We all carry painful memories from our families. We hold on to hurts and disagreements  that we have experienced because of other people our because of the way we have treated others. These are our ‘disabilities’. The keep us down and hold us back from leading the full life God calls us to live. Jesus reached out compassionately to touch the deaf man where he need healing the most. Jesus wants to do the same with each of us. He simply wants to reach out to touch and heal us where we are in most pain and most in need of his compassionate and tender healing.

However, this is not as easy as it sounds! We need to have the humility faith and courage to be honest with ourselves and Jesus. As Jesus reaches out to us, we in turn need to reach out to him to ask him heal us. We have to want to be healed. When Jesus met a sick man, he looked at him asked, ‘What do you want me to do for you.’ Jesus looks at us and asks the same question. What in your life needs healing? What do you want Jesus to do for you today?

        – Michael Moore OMI