THIS Sunday’s gospel (Luke 7:31-37) narrates the story of Jesus healing a man who was deaf and who also had a speech impediment. By Jesus’ powerful words and touch, the man’s ears were opened and he began to spoke plainly.
This man must have suffered for a long time before his miraculous encounter with the Lord. It is not hard to imagine that many times in his life, he had wished that he become like the many other people around him, one who could easily hear and speak.
We are like those many “normal” people. We were given the gifts of hearing and speech since we were young, so much so that we do not always take serious thought of how blessed we are to be endowed with these faculties.
What is even sadder is that on countless occasions, we either misuse or abuse these abilities. How many times did we use our ears to listen to unpleasant ungodly talk? And how many times did we use our tongue to utter evil – lies, malice, slander, defamation, arrogance, envy, hatred, and curses?
The gospel challenges us to use our God-given gifts to give glory and honor to the Almighty. God is our Creator and our lives are not really ours; we are mere stewards of everything that we have, even our own bodies.
Jesus, in the gospel, healed the man’s physical deafness and muteness. Yet what the greater majority of us now suffer is full or partial spiritual deafness and muteness, and thus we also are in need of God’s healing.
Let us pray that God will touch our ears, that we may not only listen to, but hear the words of God, keep them in our hearts, and apply them in our daily life. Likewise, may people’s pleas be audible to us, that we may respond in love as we help our fellow human beings in their hour of need.
Let us also pray that God will touch our tongues that we may use them to give God the praise, honor and gratitude he deserves for his goodness. May our healing inspire us to share the gospel message to as many people who need it, to talk with kindness, and to speak the truth.