About two years ago, the New York Times reported that the world famous concert violinist Joshua Bell had stood in a New York Subway station for forty-five minutes dressed as a panhandler as he played his expensive Stradavarius. In the forty-five minutes he played, he collected about $32.00 in tips, not counting the $20 bill from someone who recognized him. More than 1,000 people had passed him in that forty-five minute time period; only nine people stopped to listen to him.
At first glance, this anecdote might be the perfect story to tell as an illustration of the message that we hear in the Letter of St. James today. However, I would rather use it to illustrate the Gospel passage in which Jesus heals a deaf man with a speech impediment. St. Mark gives us a very physical description of how Jesus went about restoring the man’s health, a description that is particular to St. Mark’s Gospel. Apparently St. Luke and St. Matthew were more comfortable reporting that Jesus cured simply by a word or through his divine will. Maybe we, like them, are not as comfortable when we hear of Jesus spitting, sticking his finger in the man’s ears, and touching his tongue. The Gospel also tells us that Jesus used a word as he was touching the man, “Ephphatha,” or “Be open.”
One wonders how “open” the New York Subway commuters were to a shabbily dressed violinist. Did they pass by him because they were in a hurry or because they didn’t want to acknowledge his presence? When the New York Times reported the incident, it caused quite a stir. The fact of the matter is that the poor and the homeless people who populate the streets of our cities are largely ignored.
St. Mark also tells us that this incident happened in a non-Jewish or Gentile region. He reports that the people of the Decapolis marveled at Jesus and reported that he did all things well. In the six chapters that precede this incident, the only ones who recognize who Jesus is are Gentiles and the demons that he expelled. None of his own people recognized him. When he preached in his home town, they were ready to stone him. St. John tells us in the prologue to his Gospel that Jesus came to his own but his own received him not. Although St. Mark is not as poetic as St. John, he makes the point very clearly in the opening chapters of his Gospel.
As a matter of fact, it isn’t until chapter eight of the Gospel, the passage that we will hear next week, that anyone of Jesus’ people recognize him for who he really is. St. Peter proclaims, “You are the Son of God” as Jesus asks them about the reaction of the people to his preaching. Clearly the story of the deaf mute is not only ironic, it is also a metaphor for spiritual deafness and an unwillingness to proclaim who Jesus is.
As we gather around the table of the Lord this Sunday, the Gospel, in fact all of the Scripture readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, challenge us to “Be open.” We are challenged to be open to not only hearing the Word, but accepting it and acting upon it. We are further challenged to remember that God usually doesn’t conform to our expectations. God’s presence among us is a constantly unfolding mystery. We need to look for God in unexpected places – in the faces of the poor and of the widows and orphans and in the faces of refugees. The news media has been full of stories of those who have closed their doors to the thousands who are fleeing the death and destruction of the war in Syria as well as the stories of those who have been open to receiving them. The challenge was never clearer. “Be open.”
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator