23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
At the beginning of the ceremony of the Sacrament of Baptism, those to be baptised are asked to express Faith in God and in the Church’s doctrines and then, immediately, have the water of Baptism poured on them. Following this there is the short ceremony which called the ‘Ephphatha’ (Aramaic, the language of Jesus, word for ‘Be opened’). The minister touches the ears and mouth of the one being baptised and prays “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb 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”.
When the crowds came and flocked around Jesus to hear him or to be healed, he usually refers to their Faith; “Do you believe that I can do this?”: “Your Faith has healed you”: “Your Faith deserves it, let it be done to you”.
The Gospel story today tells of how “they brought him a deaf and dumb man so that he would lay his hand on him”, so that he would heal him. The healing of this man entailed Jesus taking him aside, touching his ears and tongue, speaking the Word to him and releasing his tongue so that he might proclaim his Faith.
Our own Baptism is a once-off event in our lives. But it is also something that need to be constantly renewed the life of every Christian. When we seek healing and forgiveness of sin we are asked to express our Faith and it is through that Faith that the Lord ministers to us.
Each encounter we have with the Lord is an opportunity for Him to take us aside in private to speak his Word – what a comforting thought! – Jesus taking us aside to speak to our hearts. The other aspect of the encounter, as in the Gospel story, is that Jesus touched the tongue, the mouth of the man. Our mouth is touched at Baptism to indicate the role that it will play in our lives as Christians. Disciples of the Lord are called to proclaim the Word that they have received.
The crowd that had gathered around Jesus and witnessed this healing could not hold back from widely proclaiming Him despite the dangers from the enemies of the Lord at the time. In our time too, despite the opposition, the cynicism and the mockery we are called to proclaim the wonders that the Lord has done to the praise and glory of God the Father.