Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today’s gospel the people say of the Lord that he has done all things well. Can you say the same about your life? The people in the gospel who saw this miracle can surely say this is true. The deaf man could hardly speak. Because when a person is deaf, how can he learn how to speak? He couldn’t because he has not heard the sound of the words so he doesn’t know how to make the same sound. You learned how to speak because your mother or someone repeated the word mommy to you many times, However, if you could not hear you would not be able to learn any word correctly.
These people were amazed at this miracle because they knew that this cure was a sign of the messiah, as we heard in the first reading. The blind will see, the lame will walk, the mute will sing and the dead will be raised up. Christ has done all these things well. He has also done all things well in your life, in your marriage and the position that the lord has put you. It is not possible for him to do evil. Everything that he created is created good as it says in Genesis.
As we heard last week, the problem is not your spouse or your boss or your lack of money. The problem is deep within you. God can use even something evil to do something wonderful in your life, even if it’s a disease or loneliness, or the sins of your parents. How many times we see the other as a curse and we want to change everything around us. But the gospel says, God does all things well.
The first reading says, be strong, fear not; the Lord comes to save you. He’ll open the eyes Of the blind, the deaf will hear, the lame will jump and the mute will sing. He comes to raise us up out of the tomb of your ego, of your pride, of your selfishness, of your envy and of your lust.
He will appear in this eucharist to save us. He doesn’t send messengers or angels. He sends his Son. He looked for you, he sought you out. He put angels in your life. But it has to be the the Lord who changes us. This man’s friends bring him to Christ, but only Christ can change him.
You and I are also blind. What do you not see? Often it’s our sins. It is easy to see the sins of the other. Your spouse can make a long list. But for our own sins, it’s not so easy, no one can tell you anything. We have many sins, but we need the Holy Spirit to show them to us because we’re blind, it costs us a lot to see our sins. It’s like trying to convince an alcoholic that he has a problem. The Lord says to the mute, ‘Be open’, ‘Listen’, so you can learn how to speak, so you can allow the Lord to love you. Let yourself be known, with all your foibles. Then you can experience his love!
We don’t see the love of God in our life. The ears are clogged. There are many deaf people who come here every weekend and no matter how loud we speak and scream and shout, they’re still deaf. It doesn’t penetrate them. It’s not about the decibels, because many have a plug in their ear. These people are saying implicitly that I’m God. I know what I need. And if we ask them on Monday, what they heard in the church the day before, they don’t remember, they haven’t retained anything.
Do you remember any word in your life that helped you? You were lame, and suddenly you jumped up like a deer. To be lame is not necessarily to be lying on a stretcher; it is to be one who cannot love or forgive. You can’t understand the kids because you’re too lame, you can’t think well of your boss? You can’t pass to the other side.You can’t understand the other!
If you don’t listen, you cannot love. Faith comes from listening, says St. Paul. And only a person who is a Christian who has faith can love, Not because he is good but because he has Christ within. You can go to mass a lot, you can pray a Lot, but if you’re deaf, if you don’t really listen to anyone, you don’t have faith. And without faith, you cannot love.
Love needs to be spoken, but if you don’t listen, you cannot learn to speak or learn to love. That’s why you can’t love because you haven’t been loved. No one has spoken to you. This is why Christ put his a finger in his ears. To open them up. It is Christ who makes us listen, so we can love. You will be able to speak of this love that you have received. This is the only thing that will stop an alcoholic from drinking. Christ has come so you can see the love of God in your life, then you will stop that adultery or fornication or whatever; then you will be able to be faithful to your wife.
This gospel is saying that to learn to listen, is something beautiful, profound, deep. Today we even have created new words that often hide the reality of sinfulness. We call stealing taking your commission; we call living together with someone who is not your wife a free union, which is a lie. It is not a union, nor is it free, it’s a slavery.
We call abortion, terminating the pregnancy but in truth it is murder! We call euthanasia a dignified death. But for many it’s against the will of the person. All these new terms have an effect on each one of us. They contaminate us, they change the culture.
Christ wants to change our life. But it can be done only in the Church. You can’t change your life outside the Church. Even if you’re the greatest Pharisee, Christ loves you, and one day when we have an adult faith, the Lord will transform the old man inside of us into the image of himself. He does all things well.
Lord, don’t take away that cross that I have. If it were different, I wouldn’t be a priest nor in the Church. You did all things well, but without the cross.
I wouldn’t be here, and neither would you!