"BE OPENED" - Jesus and the Deaf Man

- Homily for Sept. 7, 2003 -

I think we have all met people in this world who we are grateful for in terms of their having taught us something about human experience.

I value a friend whom I met in my first year of seminary training who just happened to deaf. His name was Tom.

In coming to better understand and learn from Tom, I came to also be more grateful for the use of our senses which we might often take for granted. They are precious gifts from God and we should obviously use them to their best potential. It seems God gave us senses so that we might better appreciate all the things he placed for us in this world. These things are ours to hear, touch, see and smell, as a means of also helping us to appreciate all that he has made.

How wonderful to see and experience a beautiful sunset, to smell a garden in full bloom, or a favorite meal being prepared in the kitchen, to hear a beautiful symphony, or to enjoy the taste of good food or a glass of fine wine.

I cannot imagine experiencing life without one of these senses. It seems as if they are all so interconnected. God obviously wanted it that way.

It is difficult, then, to imagine someone not having the use of one or more of their senses. To what degree might they be diminished or not? To what degree are we challenged by their presence or not? However, even if someone is without the use of one of their senses, is it not true they also have much to offer us in spite of their disability, or even through their disability?

Further, it is clear we are called to assist and to have compassion for those who do not have use of one or more of their senses. We should go out of our way to help such persons enjoy the created world and this is often seen in how we choose to interact with one another and develop authentic relationships with one another. It is clear that we all have something to learn from the other.

Jesus did teach us to make use of our senses. It is true, that from a reading of the life of Jesus, he also taught us to interpret what we experience when we do so. For instance, he often invited us to look to the birds in the air and the flowers on the ground, so that we might better appreciate God's creation. Yet, a more important lesson is that he taught us we are all the more beautiful in God's eyes, for we were created to enjoy all else he created.

Jesus also encountered persons with disabilities and used their healing as a teaching moment. One such incident is described in today's Gospel from Mark (Chapter 7), in which Jesus meets the man born deaf and mute. One might be moved by the manner in which Jesus approaches the man. It is clear this man did not escape Jesus' notice. Jesus was determined to heal him. So much so, that he pulled him away from the crowd in order to deal with him quietly. Jesus had compassion on him and gave him back his healing and his ability to speak.

This particular gospel passage, from Mark, has special meaning for me, since it reminds me of a very special person I met years ago. It challenged me to see how our God works in all peoples and within all situations.

The reason this gospel means so much to me is that I, too, met a person who was deaf, and I was forever changed by that encounter. I met Tom in my first year at the seminary. He was in his final year, and soon to be ordained a priest. I had hear about him before entering the religious community. I had also come to learn he had much difficulty in initially finding a diocese or order to accept him, because of his disability. However, our community accepted him and believed in him, and in his dignity. He became the first deaf priest to be ordained in the United States. This happened, in 1977, in Baltimore, Maryland. I asked him to be my spiritual director, shortly after his ordination, and he accepted. Four years later, he stood by me as I was pronounced my final vows.

In one of our spiritual meetings, I had asked Tom what he thought of the Gospel of Mark, heard today in the scriptures, in which Jesus healed the deaf man. I asked him, "Would you want to be healed, too?" His answer not only surprised me, it stays with me to this day.

"No", he said. "I do not ask for healing; I may be deaf, but I have learned to hear by listening with my heart." He encouraged me to use my senses, but with a different attitude; to listen with the heart.

He further commented on his insight into the meeting between Jesus and the deaf man. Notice, he said, that Jesus took the man away alone. This did not happen in any other miracle story; there were always people standing around or in the presence of the one to be healed. The significance of this, according to Tom, is that Jesus meets us, comes to us, in our own individual world. Nothing goes unnoticed. Jesus touches us with his compassion, just as he touched and healed the deaf man. However, notice that the deaf man was also given his speech. His speech was also restored. Given this, the man would now be responsible for hearing and speaking the Good News. And, is it not profound and marvelous that the first person he hears and speaks to is Jesus Himself?

Jesus' words to the deaf man, "Be Opened", perhaps best describes the attitude we need as disciples of Christ. To be open to all that is around us. To be open to all that God has set before us. The world is God's gift to us. It was made for us.

Jesus invites us to see the hand-print of God in everything. To make use of our senses and to be grateful for them. To enable them to be the means by which we share with others the Good News we have discovered or experienced that day. Above all, to listen not only with our ears, but with the heart.

- Fr. Pat O'Dea -

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