Catechism Links
CCC 1503-1505: Christ the Physician
CCC 1151-1152: signs used by Christ; sacramental signs
CCC 270-271: the mercy of God
CCC Cross Reference:
Mk 7:32-36 1504; Mk 7:33-35 1151
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Reading 1
Is 35:4-7a
Thus says the LORD:
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
Alleluia.
The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
Alleluia.
The LORD gives sight to the blind;
the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.
The LORD loves the just;
the LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
Alleluia.
The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my soul!
or:
Alleluia.
Reading II
Jas 2:1-5
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality
as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes
comes into your assembly,
and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes
and say, “Sit here, please, ”
while you say to the poor one, “Stand there, ” or “Sit at my feet, ”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves
and become judges with evil designs?
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
that he promised to those who love him?
Gospel
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.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Isaiah 35:4-7
Say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;
for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 145(146):6-10
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading James 2:1-5
My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?
Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.
Gospel Mark 7:31-37
Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
From: Isaiah 35:4-7a
Promise of Redemption
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[4] Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." [5] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; [6] then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; [7a] the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.
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Commentary:
35:1-10 The focus now changes with this hymn celebrating Zion, the holy city. It presents a picture of the restored Jerusalem in language reminiscent of that of chapters 11 and 12. God who manifested his presence and protection during the exodus, when Israel came up out of Egypt, will do so again in wonderful ways as the redeemed flock back home to Zion. He will show them the route and give them a highway and be with them in a sort of solemn procession to where he dwells (v. 8). Just as in Babylon there was a "Holy Way" lined with statues of lions and dragons that led to the temple of Marduk, the redeemed will have a truly "Holy Way" to take them to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. The joy of the returnees is compounded by the instant cure of the blind, deaf and lame (cf. 29: 18-19), which is an anticipation of what will happen in the messianic era.
The miracles worked by Jesus demonstrate that the moment of true redemption foreseen indistinctly by the prophets has come to pass (cf. Mt 11:2-6). St Justin, showing the Jew Tryphon that this prophecy found fulfillment in Christ, points out: "Christ is the stream of living water that flows from God; he sprang up in the desert wastes of ignorance of God; that is, in the parched earth of all the nations. He, who was born among your people, cured those who were blind from birth, and the deaf and the lame: by his word alone, they leapt and heard and saw once more. He raised the dead and gave them new life, and by all his good works prompted men to see Him for who he is. [...] He did all these things to convince those who were to believe in him, whatever bodily defects they might have, that if they obeyed the teachings that he gave them, he would raise them up again at his Second Coming and make them whole and perfect and immortal as He is" ("Dialogus Cum Tryphone", 69,6).
The Church uses this passage from Isaiah in the Advent liturgy (3rd Sunday, Cycle A) to encourage the faithful in joyous hope that God will come and bring salvation.
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From: James 2:1-5
Respect for the Poor
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[1] My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. [2] For if a man with gold rings and in fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, [3] and you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "Have a seat here, please," while you say to the poor man, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," [4] have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? [5] Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him?
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Commentary:
1-13. Apparently some of the Christians to whom this letter was addressed were guilty of discriminating against people on the grounds of social standing -- a clear instance of inconsistency between faith and actions, a key theme which James has already touched on (cf. 1:19-27) and will develop later (cf. 2:14-26). He may well be taking an example from something that actually happened (verses 1-4) to make the very vigorous point that discrimination is opposed to the Gospel (verses 5-7) as indeed to the Law (verses 8-11); and he makes it plain that this type of behavior will be severely punished by God when He comes to judge (verses 12-13).
1-4. God "is not partial and takes no bribe" (Deuteronomy 10:17). Discrimination among people is often condemned in the Old Testament--in the Law as well as in the Prophets and the Wisdom books (cf., e.g. Leviticus 19:15; Isaiah 5:23; Micah 3:9-11; Psalm 82:2-4). In the Gospel even our Lord's enemies admit that He is impartial and does not make unfair distinctions (cf. Matthew 22:16).
In line with this teaching, the Church takes issue with every form of discrimination. "All men are endowed with a rational soul and are created in God's image; they have the same nature and origin and, being redeemed by Christ, they enjoy the same divine calling and destiny; there is here a basic equality between men and it must be given ever greater recognition. Undoubtedly not all men are alike as regards physical capacity and intellectual and moral powers. But forms of social or cultural discrimination in basic personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language or religion, must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 29).
1. "The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory": literally "the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory." This phrase can be interpreted in slightly different ways depending on how one understands "of glory". The most likely interpretation is that this is an instance of a Semitic genitive used in place of the adjective "glorious" or "glorified"; in which case St. James is referring to Jesus Christ who, after His ascension and resurrection, enjoys, also in His capacity as man, the highest honor and glory.
The RSV takes up the idea found in 1 Corinthians 2:8 where St. Paul calls Christ "the Lord of glory": since in the Old Testament "glory" was the splendor of the majesty of Yahweh (cf. Exodus 24:16), by applying this divine attribute to Christ His divinity is being explicitly asserted. If this is the correct translation, it may be a form of words taken from early Christian liturgy.
Some translate it in another way which puts even greater stress on Christ's divinity: "The faith of the glory (that is, the divinity) of our Lord Jesus Christ."
All these translations are compatible with one another and complementary to one another.
5-7. Many of the people to whom the letter was written must have been quite poor (cf. note on 1:2-4; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29). St. James reminds them that God wants to make them rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus in fact had given as a sign of His messiahship the fact that the Gospel is proclaimed to the poor (cf. Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22) and He also taught that "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:3). "Christ was sent by the Father 'to preach good news to the poor...to heal the contrite of heart' (Luke 4:18), 'to seek and to save the lost' (Luke 19:10). Similarly, the Church encompasses with her love all those who are afflicted by human misery and she recognizes in those who are poor and who suffer, the image of her poor and suffering Founder. She does all in her power to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve Christ" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 8).
Of the rich on the other hand, the Apostle speaks with unusual harshness. As elsewhere in Sacred Scripture, those who deserve such severe condemnation are people who are bent on building up their possession as if ownership were the only purpose in life, not minding what means they used, and oppressing and ill-treating the poor (cf. note on Luke 6:24).
Behavior of this type is so serious that it amounts to "blaspheming that honorable name by which you are called" (verse 7) -- blasphemy by scandalous action rather than by words. This "name" can mean both the name "Jesus" – called down on them at Baptism -- and that of "Christian", a name already being given to those first followers of the Master (cf. Acts 11:26).
What St. James says here can in no sense be used to justify the "class struggle" which some materialistic doctrines propose. The Magisterium of the Church has often pointed out that the application of Christian principles should make for harmony and concord between the various groups in society (cf. Leo XIII, "Rerum Novarum", 14). James' words certainly do urge everyone to make a real effort to promote the human dignity of all: "The evil inequities and oppression of every kind which afflict millions of men and women today openly contradict Christ's Gospel and cannot leave the conscience of any Christian indifferent" (SCDF, "Libertatis Conscientia", 57).
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From: Mark 7:31-37
The Curing of a Deaf Man
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[31] Then [Jesus] returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. [32] And they brought Him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought Him to lay His hand upon him. [33] And taking him aside from the multitude privately, He put His fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue; [34] and looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." [35] And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. [36] And He charged them to tell no one; but the more He charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. [37] And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well; He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."
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Commentary:
32-33. Sacred Scripture quite often shows the laying on of hands as a gesture indicating the transfer of power or blessing (cf. Genesis 48:14ff; 2 Kings 5:11; Luke 13:13). Everyone knows that saliva can help heal minor cuts. In the language of Revelation fingers symbolized powerful Divine action (cf. Exodus 8:19; Psalm 8:4; Luke 11:20). So Jesus uses signs which suit in some way the effect He wants to achieve, though we can see from the text that the effect--the instantaneous cure of the deaf and dumb man--far exceeds the sign used.
In the miracle of the deaf and dumb man we can see a symbol of the way God acts on souls: for us to believe, God must first open our heart so we can listen to His word. Then, like the Apostles, we too can proclaim the "magnalia Dei", the mighty works of God (cf. Acts 2:11). In the Church's liturgy (cf. the hymn "Veni Creator") the Holy Spirit is compared to the finger of the right hand of God the Father ("Digitus paternae dexterae"). The Consoler produces in our souls, in the supernatural order, effects comparable to those which Christ produces in the body of the deaf and dumb man.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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