PARISH NEWS

DON'T TALK AT - LISTEN!

Audiologists will tell you that among unexpected consequences of COVID-19 is the difficulty hearing impaired folk have lip reading speech in the masked world. Another, with which I and many others can relate, is wearing of hearing aids being incompatible with mask-wearing. Who would have thought! We take our senses and abilities for granted until, like this deaf mute man cured by Jesus in the Gospel (Mk 7:31-37), we lose them, or they are impaired.

Jesus’ cure of hearing and speech is itself wonderful, as those present exclaim, but, in responding compassionately to immediate needs, Jesus’ words and actions always have deeper layers of meaning for those present and for us. Isaiah’s beautiful message (Is 35:4-7) in the First Reading prefigures such healing as the sign of salvation, of the messianic age and of the kingdom. Through Jesus all people are invited to hear and proclaim the Good News!

Most of us don’t suffer physical hearing impairments but many unfortunately spend lives deaf to the real meaning and joy of life and deaf to what Jesus is saying to us. He is speaking to the deepest needs in our hearts, but are we too busy to listen? For example, James’ Second Reading (James 2:1-5) corrects those incongruously discriminating against others while claiming faith in Jesus. Listen to Jesus! Our deafness is often being too tangled up with doing rather than listening. And so, not having heard properly, we are unable to proclaim the Good News.

So the very first healing we need to ask of Jesus is to be cured of any spiritual hearing impairment caused by our busy lives. Ask him to help us find some space in the day to just listen to him, rather than talk at or over him.

Deacon Mark Kelly