Servant of the Word: Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

“Jesus Heals the Mute”
by Alexandre Bida, 1850s

Readings for Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time [1]

Commentary:

Commentary on 1 Kgs 11:29-32; 12:19

This selection from the First Book of Kings describes how the Kingdom of Israel, united under King David, was broken apart. God had spoken to Solomon warning him not to worship foreign Gods (see 1 Kings 11:4-13). As this installment begins, Jeroboam is chosen through the court prophet Ahijah to take a majority of the people (10 of the twelve tribes) as their leader. This leaves only one tribe and the city of Jerusalem to Solomon, and that small portion only out of respect for his father, King David.

With this action and the subsequent efforts on the part of Jeroboam to make sure the kingdom cannot be reunited around centralized worship in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 12:26-32), Solomon is reduced to governing only a fraction of his former kingdom. The reading concludes taking a verse from the next chapter of the book, summarizing the dissolution of the united Kingdom of David, and stipulating that it remained divided “to this day.”

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 81:10-11ab, 12-13, 14-15

R. (11a and 9a) I am the Lord, your God: hear my voice.

Commentary on Ps 81:10-11ab, 12-13, 14-15

Psalm 81 is a prophetic liturgy. The voice is a priest speaking in God’s name. Through him God warns against the sin of Solomon – worshiping false gods. It warns that the faithful must remain firm, and if they do, God will be with them.

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Gospel: Mark 7:31-37

Commentary on Mk 7:31-37

Returning from his encounter with the Syrophoenician woman, the Lord now heals the deaf mute. This action, especially the wording of the final quote: “He has done all things well, he makes the deaf hear and the mute speak,” which is a paraphrase from Isaiah 35:5-6, demonstrates the fulfillment of prophecy.

The Lord’s actions are sacramental in nature, that is, they accomplish what they signify. As the Lord takes the man aside, he puts his fingers into the man’s mouth and ears. He then sighs or groans ("...he sighed: A sign either of his deep emotion over the man's pitiful condition, or, as Lohmeyer believes, of Jesus transcendence, which is contained by human limits foreign to it." [4]) looking heavenward, demonstrating his intimate relationship to the father, and says, “ephphetha!,” or “be opened."

This passage has two unusual characteristics. First, the Lord takes the man aside, in private, implying something private was offered by the Messiah. Next, after his cure was effected, he tells the man not to tell anyone. However, not only does the man continue to do so, but proclaims it. We are given the sense that the event taking place is significant in that it is pointedly revelatory, citing a new creation (cf Genesis 1:31).

CCC: Mk 7:32-36 1504; Mk 7:33-35 1151

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Reflection

The Gospel story of Jesus healing the deaf mute gives us hope that all things are possible in Christ – through our faith in him. It is clear that the afflicted man had done nothing to merit the attention of Jesus. We are told that his friends brought him to Jesus and made the request. The hope we are given is that, if we encounter some distress in our lives, and if, in good faith, we bring it to Jesus, he has the power to remove the pain, take care of the problem. There is a catch in this case.

If it were so simple to get Jesus to intervene, there would be no sick; there would be no cancer or polio. Faith in Jesus and a simple request would have wiped all of those things out long ago. If Jesus were the “silver bullet” cure, the word would have long ago spread, and every person with a serious illness would have converted instantly and brought their request to the Lord.

So we ask, as do multitudes of sufferers from various diseases or ailments, why is a miraculous cure not possible? Why does God allow illness to exist? While God was creating the human race, why didn’t he just make us immortal? If we chase that logic down to the final question, we can see that there are problems. If no one ever died the world would have long ago been “used up.” If no one ever died, there would be no one but angels in the Kingdom of Heaven. God did not create life on earth as the final destination. He gave us a biological shell to wear that we might have time on this earth he created, that we might find in this time the wonders and immensity of God’s power and love for us.

Jesus cannot be a “silver bullet,” but he can demonstrate the possibilities of loving him and having faith in him. There are times, in order to inspire us, that God, for his own purposes, intercedes in our lives. Miracles are real – they happen – and faith generally plays a huge part in it. But it is for God’s purpose not our own.

Pax

[1] The picture is “Jesus Heals the Mute” by Alexandre Bida, 1850s

[2] S.S. Commemoratio