Gospel Reflections for September 6 2015
What happens when you meet Jesus?
Jesus walks into a town with a large crowd of curiosity seekers and those who just want to see Him do another 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 Jesus and are eager to see what He will do. This would be a fantastic miracle opportunity and so cement His reputation as a great man. 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 saw. He recognizes the man cannot hear and so has no idea why he has even been brought there! However, the deaf-mute man recognizes that his physical impairment was considered a punishment from God and so he probably had spent most of his life hiding it. Now, his impairment 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 now 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 that 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 every person. Why is that? Jesus adapts His miracle powers to the particular needs of each person because He loves each person personally and pays special attention to the person’s unique circumstances.
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 is not interested in cementing His good reputation with the crowd but only in showing God’s healing love to everyone He meets. That is what happens here.
His grace is unique to each of us, so we should never compare what happens to others with ourselves. He has a plan for each of us to fulfill and He will provide us with the personal grace that each of us need to fulfill it.
This Gospel tells us that Jesus knows your circumstances well, and will offer the grace that just you will need and just at the time you will need it.
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
An especially powerful message! And a completely different way of looking at this miracle. All about personal compassion and love for the individual. Thank you.
Bob and Rose Mary
It is amazing how much deep personal human experience is packed into just a few verses.
What a precious message Father Dave that Jesus will provide the personal grace that we need to heal us to accomplish His plan for us!!!!! It is a beautiful,precious thought that Jesus loves us sooooooooooooooooomuch individually!!!! I can imagine the joy the dear deaf mute man felt at being healed so lovingly!! Now he can tell the world of the beauty of living Jesus’ love!!!We must share Jesus’ love with our world and make our world a more beautiful place!!!!! Can you imagine what Heaven must be like with Jesus present and everyone filled and living Jesus’ love!!!!! I love the song” I can only Imagine”!!! It’s my favorite!!!!Love the thought of being embraced with God and our Mary toooooooooooooooo!!!!!
Love, Franca and Dick
Thank you, Franca!
I ask for everyone to pray for God’s graces be given to my father.
He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. This has been a difficult time for my family.
Cathy
Please be assured of my prayers
Cathy,
You will be in my prayers. I took care of my Dad for 4 years until the Lord took him home. God does give you the grace – we have an awesome God!
True and very powerful message, God has plans for each one of us, different from one another and His grace is sufficient for us in all circumstances. And because of this we have different stories to tell and that’s amazing, it is a learning process, a real journey with lots of surprises. God is good all the time and He will always be there for us. Adele and I learned by listening to stories and seeing God in other peoples’ lives and studying the WORD of God.. Thank you Fr Dave and God Bless you more. Love From both of us Roy and Adele Vargas.
Well said. Your comments are very insightful.
It is the first Sunday after learning that I am positive of hiv anti virus via rapid test and now waiting for confirmation. I attended the mass this morning and was touched that the Gospel was about how Jesus healed a mute-deaf. I had prayed for my own healing and those that may have been infected. Please pray for me. I also pray for forgiveness.
Please be assured of my prayers at this time. You might notice on my website an article listed in the lower right called “What if I get sick?” I hope you will find it helpful. It ends by looking at those miracles of the Lord.
Thank you Father Dave. It is happy to think of Jesus as healing us as individuals. Sometimes we are deaf, dumb or blind. Hopefully not all at the same time, so that He can come to us and heal us.
In the Gospel it says (in the translation that I have) “spitting he touched his tongue.”. You mention “Jesus heals him with large physical actions that the man could see with the only sense that he had left, his eyesight”. I wonder what the “touched his tongue” refers to. Who’s tongue was touched? Maybe the deaf mute had also the sense of touch, and it was the touch of Jesus that awakened the other senses. I pray that God can touch all of my senses and heal me.
Yes, you are right. Jesus accessed all the senses the man had except hearing, including touch.
Wonderful insight as usual.
Congratulations on the well deserved Mother Teresa Award at the ICF convention.
Hoorah!!
Thank you for your comments. I was very honored and humbled to receive the “Mother Teresa Award” at the National Italian Catholic Federation in Las Vegas last week. It was impressive to see and hear more clearly all the good work that the members of the ICF do around the country. This is a great organization! The award was given mainly for my developing the University Series adult education program here. (Check out theuniversityseries.org)
Jesus values us for our individuality. Each and every one of us as individuals comprise each part of the body of His Church.
Well said!
Interesting that we were talking about the scripture that says that the Lord would supply all our needs etc. etc. The question is, what are our needs??? We think we need something, a healing, a new car, etc. and many of my friends would “claim” this scripture for that need. Fortunately only God really knows what our real needs are and he will supply that need and surrender to His will. That thing we think we need he could give us however it could do us harm. I love to give God “orders” on what I think I need. Praise God when I don’t get it as it could hurt. After all God knows us better than we do and we can put our total trust in His will for our lives. That isn’t always easy for me at least…
Yes, God knows better what we need than we do!
Again, Thank you Fr. Dave for your beautiful “Gospel Reflections”.
This weeks are truly comforting.
God Bless.
You are welcome!
Fr. Dave,
Once again, heartfelt appreciation for your life application Reflection!
Hope to see you at next Tuesday’s Bishops Ordination, and EOHSJ near the end of the month. With abundant joy and blessings! Joe
Could not make the Bishops Ordination, but I will definitely be at the Annual Convention for the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in San Diego in a few weeks. I will be on a speakers panel there talking about the experience of traveling to the Holy Land.
Thank you Father for your wisdom in the reflections and keep them coming! We like the pictures you choose also. God bless you!
Yes, a lot of the enjoyment I have in writing the articles in is choosing the type of picture to use.