Gospel Reflections for September 9 2018
What happens when you meet Jesus?
Jesus walks into a town and faces a large crowd of curiosity seekers and those just looking for an entertaining miracle. He is already quite famous for doing amazing things and the crowd wants more. Who wouldn’t?
They bring a deaf-mute man to Him and are eager to see what He will do. This is a perfect opportunity for Jesus to perform a big public miracle. Yet Jesus does something unexpected.
He takes the man away from the crowd and deals with him privately. Why would He do that?
Jesus sees what no one else sees. He recognizes the man cannot hear …and so has no idea why he has even been brought there! Moreover, the deaf-mute man knows his disability was often considered divine punishment and so he probably had spent most of his life hiding it. Now, his disability is publicly known to everyone …and he is profoundly humiliated. The only sense that he has left is eyesight, and all he sees is an excited crowd and a stranger in front of him. He is terrified, perhaps thinking he will be punished.
Jesus instantly recognizes his fear …and so takes him away from the crowd. In a private and majestic gesture of amazing compassion, Jesus heals him with large physical actions that the man could see with the only sense he had left, his eyesight. He cures him in a uniquely personal way.
Jesus cured many people at that time, and the Gospels record each miracle in a different way for each person. Why is that? Jesus adapts His powers to the unique needs of each person because He loves each person personally.
At this time when the church faces again the pain of child abuse, this Gospel tells us the way forward for them, which is to respect the unique circumstances of their own story. The Church should never be focused on protecting its reputation but only on the personal healing of those in need …and justice for those who selfishly do them harm.
In every miracle someone in need meets Jesus …and leaves a profoundly different person. You cannot meet Jesus and stay the same. You leave better and happier.
Jesus knows you very well, and offers you His grace just at the time you will most need it.
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Father Dave, thank you for your insight into this Gospel story. It brings to mind the story of Helen Keller. She was not only deaf and dumb, but also blind. Jesus had to send her a very special and patient person to cure her.
Helen Keller is a great example!
As always, thank you for the backstory so as to understand more fully.
You are welcome!
We live in crisis right now as we wait for he Pope to respond. He cannot stick his head in the sand! We need to “drain the swamp”. at the Vatican!…the ripples are getting wider and wider.
How can we hope to evangelize and invite others to our faith when we have lost credibility in the world?
Shame on our clergy leaders who kept quiet in light of all this? How does a Cardinal come up through the ranks with his horrible reputation? I am failing to understand and I am very angry but I will not give up my faith in Jesus., my eyes on Jesus and the Cross.
Yes, keep your eyes on Our Lord!
Father Dave as always God chose a precious priest in beautiful you!!! In Dick and my life, we have had wonderful priests touch our life with our precious Faith and love!! We are soooooooooo blessed by them!! We are praying for all priests that they may share God’s life and love as you so beautifully do!! Love our precious Jesus, love his healing love, love our loving Faith and love our God for giving us life!! It is up to each one of us to make life beautiful for our Jesus in this world and to pray for healing for ourselves and everyone!!! Have a beautiful day in our Jesus’ and our Mary’s precious love!! and Happy Birthday to our beautiful Blessed Mother for she gave us the most beautiful gift of LOVE our Jesus of love!!!
Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Franca and Dick
Thank you!
Dear Father Dave, Love your words!! You are a precious priest and God touched you in love to bring the gift of Jesus to everyone!! Dick and I have been blessed by beautiful priests in our life who have given us our precious Faith, our precious Jesus, our loving Mary, our Divine God!!!!! We are praying for all priests to live Jesus’ love and make the world beautiful and inspiring all of us to share Jesus’ love with others!! We hurt with the sorrow and saddness which has occurred with some priests and pray for immense healing love in our church!! We must pray for healing love for ourselves everyone!!!AaaaaaaaaaaaandHappy Birthday to our beautiful Blessed Mother who gave us the most precious gift of all our Jesus of Love!!!! Loveeeeeeeeeeeeee him and loveeeeee you for beautifully giving Jesus to us!! We are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo blessed!!!
Loveee, Franca and Dick
Thank you!
We recall the powerful letter you and your 2 associates at the time directed to our Archiocese regarding this tragic issue in the Los Angeles Archdiocese many years ago. The resultant effect was that you and others of like mind, were able to promote powerful, effective and preventative antidotes for the prevention of similar future incidents in the greater Los Angeles area.
How many more painful incidents will it take?
Perfectly said. Thank you!
Thank you!
It with joyful hope that we celebrate the nativity of Mary. How humble her life was and a model for us to imitate.
How wonderful a time it is now for lay women and the goal of holiness.
Perhaps each parish could appoint a wife of a deacon/Woman in religious ed. To be a go to person for anyone from the parish. To report abuse.
Of course the people would follow all the protocols now established by archdiocese.
In seminaries there could be a female employee or woman who works in the kitchen to be there go to person.
My point of being a woman is that every time abuse was reported, the woman would take the child’s side or seminarian’s side. By the simple fact of being material.
With our focus on Jesus we can’t go wrong.
God Bless
Jane
Yes, I think a woman’s voice is powerful and needed today.
Thank you, Fr. Dave. Your insights are so helpful!
It is wonderful to know that Jesus is always there waiting to meet us,
and that when we meet Him we will live in His Presence forever!
I cheated a little. Didn’t read till listening it at Church. When I heard the Gospel message I got the same thing, or maybe close to what Fr. Joe got. Pretty sneaky of him.
Being deaf and cannot hear nor speak. I wondered how many times I couldn’t hear God’s word or understand what He is trying to tell me. That is because I am not tuned into God but my own thing,. How can we say the right things or know what to say if we are not tuned into God. This is called Spiritual Sickness.
I have gotten into the habit of going into adoration again in the middle of the night just to listen. Sometimes I pray prayers and talk and talk and just don’t sit and listen. I believe that is what adoration is for, to keep quiet and listen. It has been fruitful in the past and I expect it will be in the future,.