Suddenly Everyone Can Sing

Seeing how Jesus opens the mouth of the universe

09/08/2024

Mk 7:31-37 Again 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.”

This past Tuesday a parishioner suggested I do something I swore I would never do again. He wanted me to give the exact same homily I did last Tuesday on this Sunday. But the reason I swore never to do that again was because I did that about 20 years ago at St. Edwards in Little Rock. It was December and I was swamped with work and had no time to prepare a Sunday sermon.

In desperation I decided to use the exact same sermon from a year earlier. I figured no one pays attention at Mass and just sleeps during the homily anyway, so no one will even notice. After Mass, though, I was greeting people and a man walked by with a big smile on his face saying, “Fr. John, that homily sure sounded familiar…” I was so embarrassed I swore never to do that again.

Well, I am not going to deliver last Tuesday’s homily lock-stock-and-barrel again, but I would like to revisit its main theme, namely, to sing God’s praises in church. And today’s gospel even invites this revisitation. How so? Well, Jesus cures a deaf and mute man by saying, “Ephphatha!” meaning “Be opened!” And by the way a lot more mouths were opened than Jesus expected. That is, not only is the mute man able to speak but Jesus heals everyone’s spiritual speech impediment because suddenly everyone started talking about Jesus’ miraculous healing.

As you probably know the Old Testament reading is always closely connected to the gospel passage. There is an obvious overlap. So, in Isaiah 35:6 we read, “Then the tongue of the mute will sing.” In other words, when Jesus the Messiah comes he will cure people’s speech impediments: both those who cannot speak as well as those who can speak (but don’t want to) will finally sing God’s praises. So, there’s your encore presentation of last Tuesday’s homily in a nutshell.

But if you look a little closer at today’s gospel you will discover subtle but significant baptismal imagery that also touches on opening our mouths to sing God’s praises. Where? Well, in order to heal the deaf and mute man, Jesus places his finger in the man’s ear and touches his tongue with another finger. Incidentally, if you have attended a Baptism recently, you may recall the priest or deacon making that exact same gesture by touching the baby’s ears and lips with his fingers.

And then the minister directly alludes to today’s gospel from Mark 7, saying: “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the mute speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.” In other words, the main reason God gave us ears is to hear his Word, and the real reason he gave us a tongue is to sing his praises. And we fulfill that twofold purpose of hearing the Word and singing God’s praised never better than in the liturgy at Mass. Yet tragically, most Catholics don’t sing. We are clueless to why we have ears and tongues.

My friends, I know nothing I say in this homily will change anyone’s mind about music and singing at Mass. Those who love to sing will continue to belt it out, and those who suffer from a spiritual speech impediment will continue to be zip-lip. And in a sense, that is okay, because whatever we fail to figure out here on earth, we will spend more time in purgatory to perfect. The angels and saints will not tolerate people with speech impediments in heaven. That’s why Jesus cured the deaf-mute on earth.

Nonetheless, let me leave you with this one thought. The same Catholics who on Sunday stand stoically at Mass with their arms crossed over their chest and their lips sealed with super glue, are the same Razorback fans who on Saturday called the Hogs against OSU. With all their strength they sang, “Woooooooo, pig sooie, Razorbacks!” Suddenly on Saturdays Catholics can sing!

Or, if you are a soccer fan, you would happily put your arms on the shoulders of perfect strangers and chant, “Ole, ole, ole, ole, ole!” when someone scores a goal, and soccer fans even sway back and forth while they sing. We sing and dance with all our might on Saturday like the angels and saints do on Sunday.

But my friends, make no mistake. One day – maybe only on the last day – we will sing and dance on Sunday too. And so will all creation, when Jesus pronounces those two words from the gospel over a deaf and mute universe, “Ephphatha! Be opened!” And then, even the rocks and the trees, the mountains and the meadows will be healed of their speech impediment and sing God’s praises.

Praised be Jesus Christ!