Fr. Vincent Munari, s.x
XXIII SUNDAY O. T. YEAR B
Jesus has left the Jewish territory, after the clash with Scribes and Pharisees (first part of ch. 7); he is now in the territory of the 12 towns (Dodecapolis region), a total pagan land. He leaves behind the violence but not his mission. In fact in the territory of Tyre he has to praise the powerful faith of a Syro-Fenician mother.
It seems that Mark takes particular care to underline these important values discovered by Jesus outside the territory of the revealed religion: their faith, their persistence in prayer, etc.
In the Gospel passage of this 23rd Sunday we see Jesus always on the move: he leaves Tyre “again” and it is exactly at that moment that a deaf and dumb man is brought to Him, as people do again and again when they know that Jesus is around.
A person unable to speak cannot ask for healing and so here, like in the case of the paralytic, friends or relatives come to give a hand. Suffering is never something totally private!
The description of the miracle is very well known to us missionaries, who, when preparing catechumens for baptism, have to refer to it in one of the important stages of the preparation for baptism, and who have to repeat the same words and actions of Jesus in the rite of “effatah”.
We may think that 2 disabilities require 2 miracles, but the miracle is one, because only by hearing we can learn to talk. Usually a person is unable to talk because of his/her deafness, as Sister Paul can well explain to us.
The lesson for the Catechumens and for us is this: unless we hear the Word we are unable to utter it, to proclaim it with our actions and words meaningfully in our missionary activity. I myself many times feel unable to speak the Word in a proper way because the hearing was not there previously.
Also the actions of Jesus have a meaning: “away from the crowd”, alone with Jesus, in a quiet environment, can be an appropriate circumstance of miracles for us as well. And what about the other 2 miracles mentioned in the first reading “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened. Then will the lame leap like a stag”? We understand that the ability to see comes first and then to move about and even run.
Every miracle is not meant only for us personally, but for the Kingdom. So Listen, Proclaim, See the sign of the Presence, Move with grace to the whole world is a description of miracles necessary in every missionary activity.
XXIII SUNDAY O. T. YEAR B
Jesus has left the Jewish territory, after the clash with Scribes and Pharisees (first part of ch. 7); he is now in the territory of the 12 towns (Dodecapolis region), a total pagan land. He leaves behind the violence but not his mission. In fact in the territory of Tyre he has to praise the powerful faith of a Syro-Fenician mother.
It seems that Mark takes particular care to underline these important values discovered by Jesus outside the territory of the revealed religion: their faith, their persistence in prayer, etc.
In the Gospel passage of this 23rd Sunday we see Jesus always on the move: he leaves Tyre “again” and it is exactly at that moment that a deaf and dumb man is brought to Him, as people do again and again when they know that Jesus is around.
A person unable to speak cannot ask for healing and so here, like in the case of the paralytic, friends or relatives come to give a hand. Suffering is never something totally private!
The description of the miracle is very well known to us missionaries, who, when preparing catechumens for baptism, have to refer to it in one of the important stages of the preparation for baptism, and who have to repeat the same words and actions of Jesus in the rite of “effatah”.
We may think that 2 disabilities require 2 miracles, but the miracle is one, because only by hearing we can learn to talk. Usually a person is unable to talk because of his/her deafness, as Sister Paul can well explain to us.
The lesson for the Catechumens and for us is this: unless we hear the Word we are unable to utter it, to proclaim it with our actions and words meaningfully in our missionary activity. I myself many times feel unable to speak the Word in a proper way because the hearing was not there previously.
Also the actions of Jesus have a meaning: “away from the crowd”, alone with Jesus, in a quiet environment, can be an appropriate circumstance of miracles for us as well. And what about the other 2 miracles mentioned in the first reading “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened. Then will the lame leap like a stag”? We understand that the ability to see comes first and then to move about and even run.
Every miracle is not meant only for us personally, but for the Kingdom. So Listen, Proclaim, See the sign of the Presence, Move with grace to the whole world is a description of miracles necessary in every missionary activity.