How many of us right now are suffering from seasonal allergies? And some days are worse than other days. Right. So the other day I was on the subway going to the chancellery, and I had to sneeze. That when I sneeze, everybody knows I am one of those very loud sneezes. And this woman looked at me like I had just contaminated the whole train.
And I said, excuse me, I’m not sick. It’s allergies. And she just gave me one of those withering lots. If you have an experience like that. And now after Covid, every time someone coughs or sneezes, what do we think? I’m going to get sick. I’m going to get Covid. Is it kind of gross when that happens? Do we get a little grossed out when someone coughs or sneezes around us?
Well, now imagine how the man born blind, if he could have seen Jesus spit and then touch his tongue, would have felt, is this gospel when we hear it just a little gross? I mean, after all, Jesus spits the man born blind sticks his tongue out to Jesus. Jesus is putting fingers into his ears. You know what? We accept this.
That from anyone? No. But there’s really an important life lesson for us in today’s gospel. And that is that by being born into our world, by being born someone just like us, Jesus the Lord is entering into every one of our experiences, no matter how everyday or gross it may seem. Jesus experienced what we experience, and it reminds us that the incarnation, the birth of our Lord into our world was real.
It’s visceral. We can feel it that it’s not about unicorns and roses and rainbows, that it is about the reality of our everyday lives. It is so important for us to realize how amazing it was for the crowd around Jesus, to watch him cure a blind man who could see again. It’s impossible to hear this blind man who can now see other real words.
It was amazing and it should still be amazing for us. So much so that the words we uttered are those of the gospel, that what we see is the building up of God’s kingdom here on earth. Because that’s what the people of God experienced when Jesus cured this blind man. They saw and heard the kingdom. It is amazing.
So consider that most people in Jesus’s times could not read or write anything that they couldn’t see, or they couldn’t hear was beyond them. Ideas. The complexity of life. Our human condition. Stories from the past. Basic news of the day depended upon hearing and telling word of mouth communication. This kind of culture. People who could not hear or speak were really at a loss.
They were in fact classified by the law as mentally defective as those who were beneath everyone else. Can you imagine what a change it was for this man to be cured by the Lord? All of a sudden he could hear the news of the day. He could see what was going on around him, and he could proclaim the glory of his God.
How good are we at seeing the truth? How good are we at communicating the reality of our faith? Does everyone who encounters us encounter the living Christ by our words and by our deeds? Saint James reminded us that we are not just to be hearers of the word, but we are to be doers of the word, those who make it real, if you will.
We have to put the flesh and bones under the speech. That’s exactly what Jesus did, became flesh and bone so that the world could understand the love of God our father for all creation. Now think about it. Individuals who could not hear or speak.
Also.
Missed out on a great tradition. How many of us remember sitting around a Thanksgiving table and family stories began to be told and we said, oh, I didn’t know that about so-and-so. That now made sense. Those stories, passed down by word of mouth, are so important, and especially our tradition of trusting in God’s saving mercy. It is a faith tradition that values hearing and speaking.
The Bible tells us God speaks all of creation into being. Notice God says, let there be light. God says, let there be day and night. Let us make men in our own image. Later, the voices of the Ten Commandments begin with hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one, a proclamation that many prophets you hear, O Israel.
Jesus thoughts always about hearing the Word of God. The Psalms over and over again request that God hears our prayers and answers them. It’s a good reminder that there’s a different difference for us between hearing and listening, responding and speaking. So here we are at mass. We hear the Word of God. Do we really respond to it? Sometimes I wonder when I listen to the response, is anybody out there?
Because our response should be loud and clear to the in, to the request that we respond to God. Marc is talking today about deaf people and those who cannot speak, but is going to tell the story. How Jesus heals the deaf. But the funny thing, Mark is a very tricky writer. He’s not talking about deaf people at all.
He’s talking about us. People who don’t listen, who don’t hear. There’s a difference between a person who cannot hear and the person who will not hear. Which one are we? Can we hear? Will we hear, or do we not want to hear the voice of God calling to us this day? The end of the story. When the man is healed, Jesus says to them, now don’t tell anybody because you know they’re just looking for miracles.
But what I have giving you is ears to hear, a mouth to praise. And then Jesus sends off the cured man. Now, as he usually does to the temple, to give thanks. Interesting. How can he not proclaim God’s goodness? How could he not run to the temple to tell everyone what he heard? The great mystery that Jesus doesn’t want him to tell is that the Lord will rise from the dead.
The Lord, who healed me will be healed by the power of the Holy Spirit and fill the world. It’s not time for everyone to know yet, but now, in our day and age, is the time for us to proclaim that Jesus heals.
This morning, is there anyone heart that needs healing? Is someone frightened? Is someone running out of time? Does someone need a friend to listen? This is the Lord’s message to us today that when we encounter the living Christ, we experience peace and gratitude. So today, as we go through the days, let’s look for our little blind spots about people, about opinions, about the world.
How can I be healed this day from the blind spots? Who do I not want to listen to today? Who do I shut out because I don’t want to hear what they have to say? Can we pray for healing today? What part of my life strikes me as really gross? How might I prepare myself to welcome those unexpected cloths, that unusual sneeze, that little bit of cheer that might come into my life today?
Because that’s what Jesus did. Jesus did not get grossed out by a blind man. The blind man did not get grossed out when Jesus touched his tongue. Rather, Jesus saw and heard this soul that needed to be saved. And this soul found salvation through the Lord. Today, let’s not be grossed out today. Let’s find salvation in the Lord.