Through Him, With Him, In Him

 

Deacon David Previtali · Through Him, With Him, In Him

Homily for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 17, 2021. Gospel of St. Mark 10:35-345. Theme: Through Him, With Him, In Him 

In today’s Gospel, the brother-apostles, James the Greater and John, try to pull off a self-promotion maneuver behind the backs of the other 10 apostles. Having misunderstood the ancient prophecies about the promised Messiah, as did many Jews of their day, they think that Jesus is to be a Warrior-King who has come to conquer the Romans and build the new Great Kingdom of Israel. Due to their assertive and fiery temperaments these two sons of Zebedee were nick-named “sons of thunder” by Jesus himself, and apparently, they also thought quite a bit of themselves because they don’t simply ask Jesus for a favor. Instead, they demand that he do what they ask of him! 

Jesus does grant the first part of their request: to be intimately united with him in his reign in the Kingdom of God. But poor James and John had absolutely no idea what they were really asking. Jesus was to enter into glory by offering up his very life and these two brothers would be called upon to do the same. After the Resurrection, they preached Christ as Lord and Savior to all who would listen. And as a result, they shared the same chalice of suffering that Jesus endured. Like him, they would offer up their lives to God for the sake of the Gospel. St. James the Greater would become the first of the apostles to die for his faith in Christ about 20 years after the Resurrection. His little brother, St. John, would undergo torture and exile for the sake of the Kingdom, being the last surviving apostle. He died around the year 100. 

You know, James and John fundamentally had the right idea. They wanted glory with Jesus and were willing to stand with him to attain it. But they misunderstood what this meant and went about it in the wrong way at first! The two brothers seem to have forgotten that Jesus has already told them that the way to happiness, the way to reign with him in the glory of the Kingdom, was to follow his example and serve the needs of others. And so our Lord repeats this lesson in today’s Gospel and says: “Those who wish to be first must become last and make themselves the slaves of all...I have come not to be served but to serve, and to give my life as ransom for many.” 

Like James and John, this is a lesson that we all need to remember and put into practice in our everyday lives. We need to avoid their worldly ambition and be motivated by ambition for the Kingdom. We don’t have to be persons in authority or someone with an impressive position to have prestige in the Kingdom of God. Our greatness is not in what we do but in how we do it. Every human occupation and endeavor, every social level of living and working that is upright and good, is something that can make us great for the Kingdom of God! The way this can happen is by doing everything through Jesus, with Jesus and in Jesus. In this way we can have within us the same attitude that was in Christ. 

When we carry out our normal everyday duties through Jesus it means that we intentionally offer everything we do as a gift of love to God the Father. Our prayers and our professional duties, our joys and our struggles, are all offered to him through the pierced hands of Jesus his Son. In this way the gift of our lives becomes joined to the gift of Jesus’ life given out of love and becomes something beautiful for God. 

When we do everything with Jesus it means that we are mindful of the truth that we are not walking through life alone. We have the Lord as our companion throughout the day and can speak with him heart-to-heart. He is walking with us, working with us, praying with us and resting with us. When we join ourselves to Jesus in this way everything we do takes on a deeper spiritual meaning and becomes mystically united with all that he did when he lived on planet Earth. 

Finally, when we go through our daily routine, with all its ups and downs, all its ins and outs, we seek to do so in Jesus. This means that we consciously try to carry out our daily actions as if it were Jesus actually doing them. It means that we try to interact with others in the same manner and with the same kind of attitude that Christ has shown us. This means we strive to have an outlook of servanthood, an attitude of humility, a way of doing to others as we would like them to do to us. 

A simple way to mindfully live and offer up our daily lives through, with and in Jesus is to make a special prayer from the Mass part of our own personal daily prayer. At the highpoint of the Liturgy, the priest and deacon elevate the consecrated Gifts of the Eucharist above the altar, raising them up to God the Father. This symbolizes the unselfish act of Jesus the Servant giving up his life as a ransom for us sinners. We can make the words of this prayer our own and offer our day up to God for others by using the very same words: “Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.” And seeing the good intention of our hearts united with Christ his Son in the Eucharist, God the Father will surely reply to our prayer. “Amen!”

He Went Away Sad...

 

Deacon David Previtali · He Went Away Sad...

Homily for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Oct. 10, 2021. Letter to the Hebrews 4:12-13; Gospel of St. Mark 10:17-27. Theme: He Went Away Sad... 

In today’s Gospel a young man who has made his way up in the world asks Jesus a question that I think we all have deep within us, whether we word it in the same way or not: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The first part of Jesus’ answer is clear and direct, “Keep the commandments.” This is advice he gives to all of us in general because the commandments are our common pathway to living with God. But we’re not all the same and so the second part of Christ’s answer is tailor-made for each one of us, just as it was for that rich young man. 

He was living a basically good life. According to the ancient Jewish way of looking at things he was doubly blessed since he was both wealthy and religious. And yet something was holding him back. Jesus was able to look into his heart to see what that “something” was. He told him that he was lacking in one thing, and that “one thing” was interior freedom. He had paralyzed himself in a lifestyle of prestige and position, and was unable to hear the Lord calling him to a different way of living, a new way of looking at life. He was possessed by his possessions. They held him so tightly bound to planet Earth that he just couldn’t let go and follow Christ to the Kingdom of God. 

We each need courage and trust to come before Jesus and ask him what more we need to do to grow and develop in our own relationship with God. Through gut-honest prayer we each need to ask Him to look at us, to look within us, and to tell us what it is that is holding us hostage. Jesus will open our minds to see who we really are inside and enable us to identify what is taking the Lord’s place of honor in our hearts. We each have something that holds us back, that stands in our way of true discipleship. The key that will unlock our chains is to identify whatever this might be and then stake steps to deal with it. 

Maybe it isn’t money or possessions like it was that young man. Maybe it’s pride, lust or arrogance; maybe it is envy or a hurt that we refuse to forgive, a memory that we just won’t let go of. Maybe we’re in a wrong relationship or caught up in some destructive behavior that we don’t feel strong enough to break out of. Or could it be a fear that if really live our relationship with Christ we’ll lose someone or something that we are desperately clinging on to? Yet if we truly yearn for eternal life, then we need to honestly take this kind of a personal inventory and ask ourselves: what is it that keeps me from giving myself completely to Christ? What is holding me back? 

The description of the Word of God in today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews can help us with our personal diagnosis and its remedy. It reminds us that Scripture is like a two-edged sword that can perform spiritual surgery and cut out whatever is infecting our full following of Jesus. This is why Pope Francis constantly reminds us to read at least a small portion of the Gospels daily. He knows that God’s Word has the power to penetrate into our hearts, to dig deep into our consciences, and to root out whatever it finds there that does not belong to Christ. Like any medicine, however, it works over time and so must be taken in daily dosages. But if we persevere in this spiritual treatment, we will indeed experience gradual healing and find ourselves becoming more and more free. 

Jesus had offered the rich young man a pathway to freedom, but he preferred the familiar security of his chains. He preferred an existence of temporary happiness to that of eternal joy. He couldn’t let go of the gold in his hand, so to speak, in order to grasp the hand of his Lord. And so, he went away sad. Let’s not be like that. Let's not walk away from Jesus sad because we can't let go. Let’s drop whatever holds us back and take Jesus’ hand and follow Him, so that He can lead us through life - with all its ups and downs - and finally bring us to the joy of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Servants of Love, Servants of Life

 

Deacon David Previtali · Servants of Love, Servants of Life

Homily for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 3, 2021. Genesis 2:18-24, The Gospel of Mark 10:2-12. Theme: Servants of Love, Servants of Life 

Our first reading from the Book of Genesis presents us with a very intriguing story about the first man and the first woman. Many people scoff at it because it seems like such a fairytale. But they make this mistake because they treat this story as if it’s a recounting of history as we 21st-century people would tell it. When reading the Scriptures we have to remember that God’s Word comes to us in various forms and styles of literature. Today’s Genesis passage was written in the poetic story-telling language of ancient Middle-Eastern culture. Through the use of symbolism it teaches us who man and woman are meant to be for each other through the bond of marriage. It’s a truth which Jesus himself ratifies in today’s gospel. So let’s revisit the story and see what God is revealing to us through its symbolism. 

As the story opens we come upon God as a kind of hybrid sculptor-surgeon-inventor, who labors to find just the right complement to the male human being he has formed. If we place ourselves in the story and let our imagination guide us, I think we can almost see the damp primordial mist creeping through the garden and feel a gentle breeze swaying through the lush greenery of Eden. And there, in the midst of it, we see God bending gently over Adam who is in a deep peaceful slumber. The Lord removes a rib from his side and lays it carefully upon the soft ground. As we continue looking on in utter amazement, we see that the excised rib is transforming into the detailed figure of a female, the first woman. Adam awakens and we see him turn his head to the side, We hear him exclaim that his existence is enriched and his life is now complete! The two of them, Adam the Man and Eve the Mother of the living, have received each other and become one through the intentional action of a match-maker God! This Genesis story is telling us that it takes three to get married and enjoy life together: man, woman, and God.” 

We are told that the first that woman came from the side of man. And so, we need to ask what this symbolism might mean. Why was she created from his side? Why not his head? Why not his foot? Well, because in the ancient culture of Genesis, to be made from the man’s head would mean that she was his superior. And to have been formed from his feet would designate woman as man’s inferior. So you see, to proclaim that woman was created by God from Adam’s side is to say that male and female are companions, equal in their partnership as husband and wife, equal in their dignity as creatures of God. This was a completely revolutionary idea in ancient times! 

The fact that our Genesis storyteller has God creating Eve from a rib rather than any other body part is also very significant. Again, recalling that we are dealing with Hebrew symbolism we have to ask: why a rib? What do ribs do for the human body that might give us a clue? As we all know, ribs form a cage, a protection, for the body’s two most vital systems: the heart and lungs. The heart is of course a universal symbol of love; the lungs, symbols of life. Without lungs we have no breath, no existence. Without a heart, we have no love, and a life without love is barely worth living. And it’s in these two realities of love and life that we find the very reason and purpose for marriage. 

Spouses are to be servants of love, servants of life to one another. They are to put the welfare of their beloved before their own, finding a kind of happiness in focusing on the needs and desires of the other. They are to give deeper meaning to each other’s lives, to each other’s existence. And they are also to be servants of life by receiving and nurturing any children the Lord might give them as the flesh and bone signs of their bonded-love. So you see, there are some fundamental and important truths that God is teaching us through this most ancient of Old Testament stories. It’s all about the equal dignity of men and women and their mission as a couple to be living signs of love and life in a world that desperately needs to hear it and to see it in action. 

For this very reason, Jesus elevated the natural union of civil marriage into the supernatural union of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony for his disciples. Through this sacrament He offers married couples all the grace, strength and power they need to be servants of love, servants of life. Through matrimony he empowers them to love as he loves and to live as he lived. This grace, strength and power is theirs for the totality of their lives together as husband and wife. All they have to do to receive it is to be as docile and open to God’s Presence and God’s action in their lives as were Adam and Eve on that mysterious first day in the Garden of Eden.

More Than A Cup of Water

 

Deacon David Previtali · More Than a Cup of Water

Homily for the Annual Vincentian Appeal, September 26, 2021. Gospel of St. Mark 9:38-48. Theme: More Than a Cup of Water 

 

In today’s gospel, Jesus assures us that even something as simple as giving a thirsty person a cup of water in his Name does not go unnoticed, unrewarded by God. Well, it’s my privilege to speak today about a group of Christians in our parish who give the needy so much more than simply a cup of water. 

 

They are called Vincentians, members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which was begun in Paris in 1833. In the aftermath of the bloody French Revolution, a 20-year-old Catholic law student named Frederic Ozanam along with some friends began to bring help and hope into the shacks and hovels of the Parisian slums. Supported by the donations of others, they gave tangible proof of the love of Christ for the poor, the sick, the suffering and the vulnerable. The Society quickly spread throughout Europe and immigrants brought it to the USA in 1845 and to our Archdiocese in 1860. 

 

St. Sebastian’s has been blessed to have had members of the Society active here without interruption for the past 50 years. Like those first Vincentians they make personal contact with those in need, bringing help and hope into their lives. Covid restrictions have made their work challenging, but our Vincentians have not allowed it to interrupt their service. Nothing can stop within them the love of Christ that urges them on! Even if at this time they cannot carry out their usual person-to-person in-home visits, they make use of phone calls, outdoor encounters and digital communication to hold their monthly meetings and keep their good works going. 

And as we all know, these good works cannot be sustained without the support of the larger community. Due to your generosity these Vincentians have distributed over $60,000 for the current fiscal year. This has made it possible to do such things as restore long-overdue garbage collection for a 101-year-old homeowner and provide unemployed persons with emergent dental surgery. It has enabled them to bring help and hope to others in a variety of ways such as assisting with medical bills, utility bills, insurance premiums, buying furniture, satisfying DMV fees and getting car repairs so that lives could be lived without additional burdens. Your support also made it possible to help relocate an abused woman and her children to another state in advance of her abuser’s release from prison. And this Christmas, which will soon be upon us, the Vincentians will distribute gift cards to needy families and children on your behalf as they do every year. 

The long list of good works might sound like they were being carried out by an immense network of people covering a large territory. But actually they were done by only a small handful of your fellow parishioners, working just within the physical boundaries of our little parish of St. Sebastian. This is what can happen when Christians decide to band together to do good and when the larger community decides to stand behind them with spiritual and financial support! 

You might be interested to know that the Society doesn’t simply meet a person’s present needs without thought for their future. Whenever possible Vincentians direct those they serve to additional forms of help such as safety and protection, legal advice, financial management, employment possibilities, addiction recovery, all various ways of assisting a person to get back on their feet and become self-supporting again. Vincentians seek to serve the whole person. 

Vincentians intentionally go beyond material assistance and seek to touch the very soul, because they know that their work is an extension of Jesus’ ministry. It is so much more than simply humanitarian aid. They strive to see and serve Jesus in the persons of the poor and demonstrate the love of Christ by offering empathy, compassion and hope, and also by praying for and with those they serve. Many whom they have helped have commented that this emotional and spiritual support was appreciated as much or more than the financial and material assistance. 

Please...prayerfully consider if God might be calling YOU to become a Vincentian! Currently our Vincentians are few and more hands would make for lighter work and enable the Society to bring more help and more hope to more people. All that’s required is the desire to help others in Christ’s Name. There is a place for all kinds of skills and ways of participating in the Society. For example, we could really use a Vincentian or two who can speak Spanish and we also need a Vincentian who is computer savvy to help transition to and maintain confidential online record keeping. There are so many ways to be of great service to Christ who reaches out to us through the hands and voices of the poor. If you are interested in becoming a Vincentian or simply curious to know more, please contact me or send an email to the SVDP email address (st.sebastian.svdp@gmail.com) given in the parish bulletin and on our website. 

As you might imagine, the need for financial donations is likely to increase significantly in the coming year since government rent assistance and eviction moratoria are expected to end soon. This means that a vast number of renters will face homelessness without our help so please be as generous as you can with today’s special collection for the Society. 

• If you are donating by check please be sure to note in the memo that your contribution is for the Vincentians. 
• If you are giving cash, please use one of the St. Vincent de Paul envelopes so that we know your donation is meant for the Society and not the parish fund in general. 
• And if you are not prepared to make a contribution today, please mail or bring back your donation, using one of the SVDP envelopes that can be found at each of the church entrances.

In the name of the poor and on behalf of our parish Vincentians, may God bless you and reward you for your generosity!

True Greatness

 

Deacon David Previtali · True Greatness

Homily for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 23, 2018. Readings - Letter of St. James 3:16-4:3; Gospel of St. Mark 9:30-37. Theme: True Greatness 

Today’s Gospel begins where we left off last Sunday: with Jesus affirming to his disciples that He is, indeed the Christ, the Anointed One, the Promised Messiah. And even though He told them quite clearly – for the second time now - that He was going to be arrested, tortured and killed they still didn’t get it. The idea of a Messiah being overcome by his adversaries was so far beyond their expectations that they just couldn’t imagine it. 

You see, like most devout Jews of their time, the Apostles were expecting the Messiah to be a mighty warrior-king. They expected him to lead a powerful army into Roman-occupied Jerusalem, where he would conquer the oppressors, take up his royal throne, and begin his glorious reign. And then those who were his intimate associates would be given power and prestige in his kingdom. They were most likely each imagining themselves in various roles of authority and boasting to the others about their potential for fame, greatness and success! We all engage in that kind of boasting and bragging at one time or another, and we all know way too well what usually fuels that sort of behavior: jealousy and envy. We quite often confuse these two words and use them interchangeably, but actually, while being related, they have different meanings. 

Jealousy is concerned about the talents or treasures that we ourselves possess. It opens us up to the dark side of human nature wherein we become suspicious of others and see people as rivals who want to take something or someone away from us and make it their own. Envy, on the other hand, has to do with another person’s talents and treasures. We see what another possesses - such as money, property, or even a relationship - and we want to take it from them. But it can go on to become a treacherous monster-within-us, by stirring up feelings of ill will towards the person or even tempting us to take steps towards making their downfall possible. In our second reading, St. James describes for us the rotten fruit that we produce when we allow jealousy and envy to have a place in our lives. They can become as destructive as a hurricane as they twist our souls out of shape and cause so much damage to us and those around us. If left unchecked they can become like two express lanes to hell, both hell-on-earth and hell-for-eternity. 

This is because they are the enemies of charity, which is the love that leads us to life with God, both here on earth and for eternity in Heaven. Charity, in its expression as love for God, has us counting our blessings with grateful hearts and thanking him for the talents and treasures he has given us. And in its expression as love for neighbor, it takes our eyes off of ourselves and what we possess and instead casts them upon the lives of those who are suffering, sick, poor or vulnerable in any way. Compassion and mercy take up the place in our souls that jealousy and envy would occupy if there was room. This is the message of Jesus which the disciples had heard many times. And yet they are arguing among themselves as if they had never heard his teachings at all. 

The intervention of Christ into their heated debate must have been an embarrassing occasion for those jealousy-driven and envious disciples. Notice how the Gospel tells us that they fell silent when he questioned them about it. Isn’t that how we all react when our unacceptable behavior is pointed out? I am sure they were also quite stunned and rather confused when Jesus made a child the symbol of those to be served in his kingdom! But that seems to be the way Jesus operates, doesn’t it? He challenges us to rethink our ideas and definitions in light of His truth, in accordance with his Gospel. He tells us to get used to seeing things very differently than how we had been doing. He calls us to rethink how we are living and to ponder what it really means for us to be successful, to be great in this life. 

Christ is teaching us in today’s Gospel that the greatest among us are the ones who put love into action by serving the least among us. This is why Jesus held up an insignificant child before the eyes of his disciples. You see, in their day a child was considered a nonperson with no civil rights, no claim to lawful protection, and no social status. And Jesus explicitly tells them to serve such as these. This forgetfulness of self, of ego, was the example given us by Jesus the Messiah, both by his life lived for others and by his death on the cross offered up for others. The mystic St. John of the Cross put it well when he wrote, “In the twilight of life God will not judge us on our earthly possessions or human success, but rather on how much and how well we have loved.”

We Are All "Other Christs"!

 

Homily for the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 12, 2021. Gospel of St. Mark 8:27-35. Theme: We Are All “Other Christs”!

In today’s Gospel, we heard Peter say to Jesus, “You are the Christ.”  So, what exactly does that mean? When I was a kid I honestly thought it was his last name, you know...as in Jesus, Mary and Joseph Christ!   But it’s not a name at all. Rather, it’s a title and a very ancient one at that, going back several thousand years.

To understand its meaning we have to go to the very beginning of the Bible, to the story of Adam and Eve. Recall that through their free choice of autonomy from God the whole human race found itself in a state of spiritual alienation from our Creator.  Our Christian tradition has come to call this the original sin of Adam and Eve.  Through this original sin, chaos and confusion, suffering and sin entered into the human experience. And the gift of eternal life with God was also put into  jeopardy.  

In order for this sin to be forgiven and for this great spiritual wound in every human person to be healed, God promised to one day send a Savior, a Deliverer, who would set things right again. Just as Adam and Eve brought sin into the world through their selfishness and disobedience, so the Deliverer would bring salvation through his unselfishness and obedient love.  The prophets of Israel called this Promised One the MESSIAH.

 

In Hebrew, Messiah means “The Anointed One”. You see, in the Old Testament, those who were specially chosen by God to serve his people as priests, prophets and kings were anointed with holy oil as a sign of their mission.  Since the Savior was to be the greatest prophet, the holiest priest and the mightiest king, He was known as THE Messiah, THE Anointed One above all others. And so this is why Jesus alone received this most ancient title.

 

When Greek became the primary world language MESSIAH was translated into the Greek word, CHRISTOS which in English is CHRIST. And so there you have it. Christ means the Messiah, the Anointed One, the holiest prophet who would speak God’s Word to us; the most sacred priest who would enable us to offer true worship to God; the humble servant-king who would lead  us, not by strict domination like earthly kings, but by the example of loving service.

 

But now here’s an awesome truth that connects each one of us with the story of the Messiah.  We who are baptized share in Jesus’ consecration, dedication and mission as the Messiah, as the Christ.  Right after being baptized with water we were anointed with Chrism, the ancient sacred anointing oil.  And as we were anointed these words were prayed over us: "God now anoints you with the chrism of salvation as Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet and King…”  This is why we are called Christians.  Like Jesus we are Anointed Ones chosen by God the Father to become “other Christs” in this world.  We are anointed to speak God’s message as prophets, we are anointed to worship God as his priestly people, and we are anointed to show our love for God by serving our neighbor. 

But there is one more thing that comes into our lives because of our mission to be “other Christs” and that is the Cross.  For many Christians, the Cross has come to mean patience in trials and perseverance in suffering.  And that is certainly one of the positive inspirational meanings we can give to it in our lives.  But this is not what “the cross” meant to Jesus or to those who heard him speak about it. To understand more fully what Jesus meant we have to put ourselves into the mindset of those first century people living under Roman oppression. To them, “the cross” was a symbol of shame and public humiliation. To “carry one’s cross” meant to go to one’s death and to be ridiculed along the way.  What Jesus the Christ is telling us in today’s Gospel is that those who truly want to follow him in this life and into the Kingdom of Heaven must be willing to undergo public ridicule, humiliation and rejection because of our relationship with him.  

So the big question is: are we willing to take up the Cross and follow Jesus? The social and moral condition of our nation today certainly makes the public ridicule of the Cross a potential reality in our lives as Christians. Just about everything in our culture has found its way into opposition with Christ and his teachings. For example, abortion and euthanasia are upheld as patient rights while the Gospel tells us these are assaults on human life. Our Creator’s intentions for marriage and family have become twisted into distorted definitions and freestyle relationships. Educational institutions reject truth as something valid for all people and instead teach the politically correct propaganda of the day from kindergarten through graduate school. And there are many more examples that we all know way too well.  

Are we willing to take up the Cross and follow Jesus? Do we love God and neighbor enough to live out our mission as “other Christs”, as Anointed Ones who speak God’s message by our words and our behavior?  Our baptismal anointing is not a gift that God gives us for our own sakes.  We are called and anointed for the sake of others.  Each one of us has been anointed to live as “other Christs” among those with whom we live, work and socialize, so that by the power and witness of the Cross  we might help them to know, love and serve God in this life and then  be forever happy with him in the next.

Ephphatha!

 

Deacon David Previtali · Ephphatha!

Homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Gospel of St. Mark 7:31-37 September 5, 2021. Theme: Ephphatha! 

There’s a strange but interesting Aramaic word in today’s Gospel: “Ephphatha”. It’s one of the very few original-language words we have preserved from the lips of Jesus. And as St. Mark tells us, it means “Be opened”. You know, this healing story has held such importance in Christianity that we still sacramentally re-enact it today at baptism during what is called the “Ephphatha Rite”. The baptizing minister touches the ears and mouth of the newly baptized while saying, “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, grant that you may soon receive his Word with your ears and profess the Faith with your lips, to the glory and praise of God the Father.” 

Since Jesus worked so many miracles when he was among us, it makes me wonder why did the Holy Spirit inspire Mark to include this particular one for posterity’s sake? And why has the Church seen fit to remember and re-enact it in the baptismal liturgy throughout the centuries? Was it simply to remind us that Jesus had mended hearing problems and enabled people to vocalize again or was it something much deeper than that? I think it might be because it stands for the deeper healing we all need no matter who we are and no matter when or where we live. Could its inclusion in the Gospel be to remind us that we all somehow need this kind of healing ourselves? Could it be because we who are able to hear with our ears still remain deaf to the voice of God and the cries of others? Could it be because those of us who have the gift of speech too often use it to denigrate and divide instead of unite and build up? 

Did you notice how after the miracle occurred, people kept talking about all that Jesus had done to totally transform this man’s life? That’s precisely what the Ephphatha we experience at Baptism is supposed to inspire us to do. Having had our ears opened to the Word of God we are empowered to use our lips to speak of Jesus and all he has done for us to those whom we encounter in everyday life. In this way we Christians become part of the story and continue its miracle all over the earth. In other words, the Ephphatha we receive at Baptism makes us part of the mission of Christ, enabling us to become his healing ambassadors in a very broken world and among very broken people. 

Our Ephphatha healing mission is so vitally needed in today’s world. We need only turn on the media or listen to conversations around us to verify that way too much of today’s hearing and speaking is argumentative, disrespectful and divisive. Way too often these days people’s lips are used to speak bitter and disrespectful words. All too often people will not use their ears to try and really hear what someone who disagrees with them is trying to say, or to even simply acknowledge that they have the right to speak it. There is great need for healing in our social interactions and it must begin with those of us who have had our ears and tongues blessed and opened by Christ in the Ephphatha. It is not, of course, an easy thing for us to do but quite honestly it is our responsibility as Christians, as “other Christs”. 

We need to patiently listen to others before we speak so that we can hear what they are really saying. And when we respond we must do so with as much calmness and charity as we can muster so that the message (which is Christ) doesn’t get rejected because of the messenger (which is us). We need to make sure that the conversations and debates that we have in daily life, or that we engage in online, are tempered by peaceful respect and come from a place of genuine love for our neighbor. We must never forget that our goal is not to win an argument or to prove somebody wrong and ourselves right. Our goal is the salvation of souls, the bringing of others to Jesus, whose very Name itself means “God heals”. We want others to know the same love, the same peace and the same mercy that we ourselves have experienced and received from him. This is the kind of inner healing so many in our world need today. 

As Catholic Christians, we are fully equipped to successfully live the Ephphatha mission of our Baptism because of the Eucharist that we celebrate, receive and adore. At the Eucharist, we hear the Word of God proclaimed and so are taught the truth that we must speak. At the Eucharist, we come into intimate personal contact with the Risen Lord Jesus, and receive the healing power of his presence within us. And in our prayer after Holy Communion, we can adore the Lord dwelling within us and beg from him the graces of healing that we need, for we cannot go out and give to others what we ourselves have not first received.