Dear Friends,
We all remember that those who left Christ at the end of the speech on the bread of life declared that the saying was so hard, and that no one would accept it. Without compromise, Christ asked his disciples whether they also wanted to leave him. The reaction of the listeners was an expression of the refusal to be open to the word of God and to be transformed by it.
Today’s readings take us back to the same question. However, the only difference here is that Christ moves forwards to express a pressing invitation to His listeners: “Ephphatha!” Be open! When we come here, we may be likened to those followers who listen with their human ears and look with human eyes. Through all these we can see but what is human and hear but what is hard to follow. Our hearts, ears and eyes are most of the time conditioned by what we want to see, to hear and to embrace. But one thing is sure: if we open up to God’s grace and mercy, we will be able to see His immeasurable love and to bring about the kingdom of God in our life and the lives of those around us.
In our lives, we experience the challenge of listening to Christ and moving from being mute to spreading the word of God. Missionary discipleship is a consequence of being open to the word of God and His grace. Like the deaf and mute person in today’s gospel, we come to be opened by Christ as He feeds us with His word and his Body. To make our encounter with Christ fruitful, we are invited to let Him transform us from within; we are meant to let Him open our mind and heart to the intelligence of the things of heaven. The Word of God we receive and the Body of Christ we partake give us the grace that heals us from all of our fears and other impediments.
As disciples, we struggle with the ways we respond to God’s call. We listen to Him, yet we are very seldom able to proclaim Him. Fear, worries, and all kinds of obstacles refrain us from taking bold action that can change the world. We may at some point look at our level of initiation in the things of God and think that we can do nothing. Saint James reminds us that God chooses the poor, meaning those who rely on Him to be rich in faith and spread the virtues of the kingdom through and by their humble ways of life. The most important for God is not how articulate we are in the matter of faith, but rather how bold we are in humbly and courageously living the gospel. Saint Joseph understood this truth and relied on God to fulfill his mission. He knew that fearing God was at foundation of his new journey with Him. We also are invited to embark on a likewise journey of letting God open our mind, ears and eyes to the intelligence of His grace and love, and to make of us those witnesses who, by our words and deeds make the kingdom of God present around us.
As we pray to Saint Joseph for the grace of the “Fear of the Lord” throughout this month of September, let us also pray to God to enable us to open our hearts, ears and eyes to His grace in order to experience His love and to share it with others. And let us continue to pray for one another and for our parish family.
Fr. Emery