23rd sunday in ordinary time

Have A Nice Life!

One Sunday morning, Helena, a member of the Providence, Rhode Island Women's Club, sat in Church and listened intently to a reading of the episode in today's Gospel

A man who is deaf and has a speech impediment is brought before the Lord. Jesus is asked to use His healing power to cure these defects. He takes the man aside and puts His fingers into the man's ears. Then Jesus spits and touches the man's tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, he says "Ephphata" ("Be opened") and, immediately, a transformation takes place: the man can hear clearly and speak plainly.

Helena was deeply moved by that Bible story. The next day, Helena went to a fund-raising "carnival" staged for the benefit of the Women's Club. One of the events took place in a tent which had been set up for a medium to conduct seances. Helena bought a ticket, went inside, and sat down at a large round table, presided over by the medium. When all the places were taken, the medium went into an impressive routine which included floating banjos, levitating tables and the like. Finally, the medium asked if anyone would like to make contact with a departed person. "I can put you in touch with anyone in the next life," the medium boasted. "Very well," said Helena, "there is a Bible story about Jesus curing a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. I would like to contact that man." After much bell-ringing, moaning and groaning, and humming which seemed to be coming from all directions, a voice from the chandelier announced distinctly, "I am the man you are seeking to communicate with. I am the man whom Jesus cured of deafness and a speech impediment." To which Helena replied, "I know you can hear me because Jesus cured you of your deafness, and I can tell you that your speech is coming through most clearly, but I have one question." "Ask me anything," the voice came back. "All right, then," said Helena, "tell me, where did you learn to speak English?"

Good question! Jesus spoke Aramaic. And when he opened the deaf mute's ears and loosened his tongue, the man "began to speak plainly--in Aramaic. Having said that, I hasten to add that language has nothing to do with the meaning of the story for us. What is the Gospel writer trying to teach us?

We know that Jesus' miracles are not merely demonstrations of power designed to induce faith in those who witness them or hear about them. They also are sermons in action, designed to teach some specific lesson. And the symbolic message in today's Gospel story is clear. The man could not hear or make himself understood. His ability to communicate with other people was practically nil. But then he encounters Jesus, and he is transformed. Formerly he was a deaf mute; now his ears are open. Formerly he had a speech impediment; now he can speak plainly.

The deaf mute, unable to communicate, symbolizes our own communication problem vis-a-vis God. In order to perceive God's message and in order to proclaim God's message, we need to be transformed. And that is the lesson we take from today's Gospel story. What we see is not simply the healing of a physical defect, but a concrete sign of the transforming power of God's Love. In the midst of all our hurts and sorrows and frustrations, in the midst of all the physical handicaps that befall us, in the midst of the hands of the clock moving toward our own death, we put our trust in God's promise that it's all worthwhile; that the power of God's Love is working in our lives to transform sorrow into joy, sickness into health, death into new life. God wants us to understand that the future is open; that He is taking us somewhere; that as the present moment spills out into the future, He is offering us wholeness of life. The transforming Resurrection Power of the God who loves us will have the last word!

One morning on the NBC-TV "Today Show," co-host Joe Garagiola recalled a recent visit he had made to his local drugstore. He said,

From the shelves I selected a bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol, twelve ounces of Kaopectate, an elastic knee support, a supply of corn plasters, some Dristan, a vaporizer, a remedy for sore gums and a tube of Preparation H. I took all that stuff to the counter where they rung up on the register and bagged. Then, as the clerk handed me my purchases, I couldn't believe my ears when I heard him say, "Have a nice day!"

If I should say to you now, "Have a nice day," some of you may feel like saying, "I couldn't believe my ears? That person in the pulpit has no idea of what I'm going through. Have a nice day! Are you kidding?" And, you know, you would be right to say that. I really don't know what you're going through today. Moreover, you really don't know what I may be going through today. Only God knows. And that's the whole point of our Good News Gospel: God knows and He cares. In revealing to us our little human glimpse of His creative plan for our ultimate fulfillment--the great Mystery of Life--He has promised never to abandon us; He has promised His steadfast Love for us; He has promised to relieve all anxiety, right every wrong, wipe away every tear.

Believe your ears when you hear the Word of God telling you, in effect, not only to "Have a nice day" but also to "Have a nice life." Believe your ears when you hear the Word of God assure you that, whatever you're going through today, it's all worthwhile; whatever you're going through today, it's going to be all right; whatever you're going through today, God is with you in that situation.

A friend once told about her mother and it goes something like this:

My mother has a dementing illness similar to Alzheimers. For the past two years I have watched her lose more and more of her mind. Every day she sees people who aren't there and hears voices that aren't speaking. Listening to her ravings is the most difficult and painful thing I've ever experienced. "Why, God?" I've wept. "Why can't You give her back her mind? Why are You allowing her to suffer like this?"

But slowly I've begun to see God's goodness, even in this. I've begun to see that my mother really isn't suffering. Because her mind is failing, she doesn't realize she's getting worse. She doesn't remember who I am, but she also doesn't remember people who have hurt her in the past. And even though she gets irritated by the imaginary people she sees, because of them she doesn't feel alone. Day-by-day, moment-by-moment, God is helping me to accept her as she is. He is helping me to listen to her and not argue with her. Above all, He is teaching me that I still can sing of His power and mercy. I feel the transforming power of His Love undergirding me. And I know that, in His mercy, He will call my mother home when the time has come. Help me, God, to see Your hidden blessings and to keep singing.

Help us, God, to trust in your promise that it all has meaning, that it's all worthwhile. Help us, God, to believe our ears when we hear your promise of the good life. Help us, God, to help others to believe their ears when, in and through our ministry of loving service, we give them little human glimpses of Your tremendous Love for them.

"Have a nice day!...Have a nice life!" That's God's wish for you--now and forever! You can believe your ears.