Daily Readings - Sun Sep 09 2018

⁴Say to the fainthearted: "Take courage and fear not! Behold, your God will bring the vindication of retribution. God himself will arrive to save you.⁵Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be cleared⁶Then the disabled will leap like a buck, and the tongue of the mute will be untied. For the waters have burst forth in the desert, and torrents in solitary places⁷And the land that was dry will have a pond, and the thirsty land will have fountains of water. In the hollows where the serpents lived before, there will rise up the greenery of reed and bulrush

James

Chapter 2

¹My brothers, within the glorious faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, do not choose to show favoritism toward persons²For if a man has entered your assembly having a gold ring and splendid apparel, and if a poor man has also entered, in dirty clothing³and if you are then attentive to the one who is clothed in excellent apparel, so that you say to him, "You may sit in this good place," but you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit below my footstool,⁴are you not judging within yourselves, and have you not become judges with unjust thoughts⁵My most beloved brothers, listen. Has not God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that God has promised to those who love him

Mark

Chapter 7

³¹And again, departing from the borders of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the area of the Ten Cities³²And they brought someone who was deaf and mute to him. And they begged him, so that he would lay his hand upon him³³And taking him away from the crowd, he put his fingers into his ears; and spitting, he touched his tongue³⁴And gazing up to heaven, he groaned and said to him: "Ephphatha," which is, "Be opened.³⁵And immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke correctly³⁶And he instructed them not to tell anyone. But as much as he instructed them, so much more did they preach about it³⁷And so much more did they wonder, saying: "He has done all things well. He has caused both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.

Sermon

The readings today invite us to reflect on the transformative power of God’s grace and the call to live as instruments of that grace in the world. In the first reading from Isaiah, we hear a beautiful vision of hope and restoration. The prophet describes a time when the blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the mute will speak. This is not just a physical healing but a spiritual one—a restoration of creation to its fullness. Isaiah reminds us that God’s salvation is not just for the soul but for the whole person, and it brings life even to the most desolate places. The Gospel from Mark brings this vision to life in the person of Jesus. We see Jesus healing a man who is both deaf and mute. This miracle is not just an act of power; it is a sign of the kingdom of God breaking into the world. By healing the man, Jesus restores him to community and relationship, showing that God’s healing touches every part of human life. The man’s inability to hear and speak symbolizes the ways we are all disconnected from God and one another, and Jesus’ command, “Ephphatha” (“Be opened”), is an invitation to all of us to be opened to God’s grace and to the needs of others. James, in the second reading, challenges us to live out this grace in our daily lives. He warns against favoritism and judgment, reminding us that true faith is not just about what we believe but about how we act. God has chosen the poor and the marginalized to be rich in faith, and we are called to see the world through God’s eyes. This means treating everyone with dignity and compassion, regardless of their circumstances. As we reflect on these readings, let us ask ourselves: Where am I in need of healing? How can I be an instrument of healing for others? May we, like the man in the Gospel, be opened to God’s grace and may we, in turn, open our hearts and hands to those around us.