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In Mark 7:31-37, a deaf man is brought to Jesus. This is where silly Jesus comes out and He gives the man a wet willy and spits on his tongue.
Just kidding. But not really. Well, maybe a little.
Most of the time, when I read these passages in the Gospels where Jesus heals someone, I think, that’s one nice Jesus right there.
And that’s that. I don’t think too much more on it.
But the last time I read this passage, I thought about all the times that I have been deaf to Jesus speaking to me.
I’ve been a Christian all my life. I’ve attended Mass almost every single Sunday for the past 35ish years. Do some quick math, and that’s more than… 35 Masses that I have attended. And that doesn’t even include special Masses for Sacraments, retreats, and conferences, or daily Masses. So, we’re looking at well over like, 50.
And with the readings repeating every 3 years, that means I’ve heard this particular reading at least 11 times.
And yet it wasn’t until this last time that I thought about how this might relate to my life. What if I’m the “deaf man” Jesus has healed? That I finally allowed myself to truly start listening to His Word and not just hear it but take it in?
It truly is incredible how much of Scripture still applies to us now. But I don’t always recognize how it relates to my life? But I know that’s only because I’m not really trying to be present to His Word. I’ll focus and listen, but I’m listening without reflecting.
It’s like listening to a song and enjoying it because of how it sounds, maybe even singing along to the parts that are easy to remember, but without actually paying attention to the lyrics. And then, you look up the lyrics or really try to listen to what the artist is singing, and you’re like, holy crap this song is about my life!
That’s probably why so many of us walk out of Mass feeling the same as we did when we walked in. Because we weren’t really reflecting on the readings we just heard (aka the Word of God aka JESUS).
I know I get so much more out of Mass when I not only reflect on the readings during Mass, but also outside of Mass. Two ways I do this is by actually reading the readings outside of Mass (easily found at usccb.org) and listening to The Lanky Guys podcast – I’ve mentioned them in previous posts, but they do an amazing job of giving context to the Sunday readings and showing how they connect. There are also plenty of options online and in apps to hear more reflections on the readings (including on here!).
I encourage you to start making time for it (and if you don’t have time for a 40ish minute podcast, do what I do and increase the speed :-))
