He has done all things well

 Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B - 5th  September 2021

 Gospel Mark 7: 31–37

Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said, ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’

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Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I go to my own place of prayer, be it a seat in the garden, the corner of a quiet room, or wherever. As I do, I notice how I am feeling. What am I bringing with me? How disposed and prepared am I to pray? 

Jesus’s cure of the man with a speech and hearing impediment is a clear echo of the First and Second Readings. God chooses the weak, the poor, those without capacity, to show that one’s level in society counts for nothing. What is of lasting value is a heart set on God.

As I begin this time of prayer, I might ask that the Holy Spirit help me to see everything through faith, to recognise that power counts for nothing unless it be the power of love.

I might move into prayer by reading the text, noticing what is striking me, or by putting myself in the Gospel, perhaps as the man needing healing. Where, in my life, do I want to be opened?

However I am praying, I keep my gaze firmly on the person of Jesus and on his priorities, noticing that he is even at pains to avoid the crowd’s praise.

By journeying through the more Gentile Decapolis region, Jesus is making a choice – those outside the Jewish law will not be forgotten.

In my daily decision-making, who and what directs my own choices?

Do I notice when others need help? Do I turn a blind eye?

Do I truly listen when someone speaks?

Am I someone who helps others to open up and unburden themselves? I ponder...

I end, when ready, with a sign of the cross.

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