The Lectionary

Opening our ears and loosening our tongues
02/15/2019

Mark 7:31-37 Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

The big red book we read the scriptures from at every Mass is called the “Lectionary.” As you know, at every Mass we typically have a first reading from the Old Testament and a gospel reading from Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. In the seminary they taught us that these two scriptures were chosen deliberately because of a deep connection and correlation between them. It’s amazing to think the whole Lectionary is laid out with readings for the whole year where the Old Testament and the New Testament display a noticeable interdependence or interpenetration. St. Augustine famously said: “The New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is made manifest in the New.” Or, think of it like this: the Old Testament is like watching the movie “Casablanca” in black and white, while the New Testament is the colorized version, or better, the three-dimensional version. When you attend daily Mass, try to catch that connection; it will exceedingly enrich your experience of the Eucharist.

The connection between the first reading from Genesis and the gospel of Mark today is so apparent, it is virtually shouting at us. They both concern hearing and speaking. In Genesis the serpent tricks the innocent and unsuspecting Eve into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But how does he do it? He manipulates his speech and her hearing. The serpent uses his God-given gift of speech to twist the truth, not exactly lying, but definitely deceiving the woman into doubting God’s love and desire for her happiness. On her part, Eve hears what she wants to hear (don’t we all do that?) and basically dismisses God’s commandment not to eat of the tree. In a spiritual sense, she closes her ears to God’s voice and to God’s wisdom. The Old Testament presents the black and white version of the loss of speech and hearing.

The New Testament, therefore, presents a strikingly similar story of speech and hearing, but in this case, the healing of those capacities, a sort of colorized version. Jesus heals a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. We read: “He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’ (that is, ‘Be opened!’).” By the way, last night I baptized a beautiful baby named Luke. At the end of the ceremony the priest touches the ears and the lips of the baby and prays his hearing and speech will be filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Usually the baby ends up sucking my thumb, which is really weird.

But notice how in Genesis Satan works his dark magic impairing man and woman’s capacity to hear and to speak. But in Mark Jesus heals and frees that capacity to hear and speak. And what is the result? We read a little later: “He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.” That’s what I hope and pray that little baby Luke will do: grow up to proclaim uncontrollably all the great things God has done for him. Can you see the close interpenetrating connection between the Old and the New Testaments? It is like that at every Mass, if the congregation hears the readings with open ears and the preachers proclaims the Good News with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, who injected that connection there in the first place.

Our scriptures also invite us to apply the lesson of speaking and hearing in our daily lives as Christians. Here are a couple of practical tips on how to open your ears and loosen your tongue. First, when you listen to others speak, don’t only focus on their words, but also pay attention to the feelings they convey through those words. This focus is especially useful in counseling. Quite often people use facts to express their feelings and they hope their hearer can catch that distinction. I heard a U.S. senator say recently that “people have a right to their own opinion, but not to their own facts.” That’s true. But the trouble is people often use facts to express their feelings, and people end up arguing over the facts when all along it was the deeper feelings the speaker was trying to share. This hearing of feelings is critical for good communication between spouses. Listen for the feelings underlying the facts, and your ears will be more open.

A second lesson the scriptures offer us is how to loosen our tongues, especially a man’s tongue. All men suffer from a speech impediment and have trouble talking. How often men become tight lipped in conversations with women, and women react like Jesus: they groan and look up to heaven and shout, “Ephphratha! Be Opened! Say something!” I think the dilemma lies in most men’s tendency to be uncomfortable sharing their feelings, and to remain at the level of facts. If more men, myself included, could reach into our hearts and tap our feelings about problems and politics, we might feel more freedom to speak. Sifting through both facts and feelings can help improve communication both on the side of hearing and speaking.

Let me read again the last line of today’s gospel. It summarizes everything I’ve said: “They were exceedingly astonished and they said, ‘He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak’.” May Jesus perform that same miracle for each of us.

Praised be Jesus Christ!