September 09, 2012
Sunday
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Rev. Fr. Caloy Reyes
Mass at EDSA Shrine, Our Lady of
Peace Quasi-Parish
Second Reading James
2:1-5
31 Then he returned
from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through
the region of the Decap'olis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and
had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon
him. 33 And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers
into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; 34 and looking up to heaven,
he sighed, and said to him, "Eph'phatha," that is, "Be
opened." 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he
spoke plainly. 36 And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged
them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond
measure, saying, "He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear
and the dumb speak.”
HOMILY
We see that we, as human beings, are essentially
a part of a relationship - and in a relationship, communication is very
important.
Why are there breakdowns in communication? There is obstinacy, the incapacity to listen to each other, and our tendency to see things from our own point of view. The basic hindrance in communication, therefore, is when there is no input or output from one of the parties - when one party does not speak or articulate, or one party does not listen.
In today's Gospel, you can see Jesus as the epitome of a good communicator. He always listened to His Father, in fulfilling His mission. And when He listens, He also communicates. Like Jesus, we should learn to communicate to God through prayer. And when we pray, we do not just communicate, we should also listen. God wants to talk to us. He wants us to be open to His Word - that is why in the Gospel, the word 'effetah' was used, which means "be opened" - which shows God's desire to communicate to us, and to show how much He loves us. God speaks to us in the daily events of our life - we need to prepare ourselves to listen to what God is telling us, that we may also learn to proclaim His Word to others.
Why are there breakdowns in communication? There is obstinacy, the incapacity to listen to each other, and our tendency to see things from our own point of view. The basic hindrance in communication, therefore, is when there is no input or output from one of the parties - when one party does not speak or articulate, or one party does not listen.
In today's Gospel, you can see Jesus as the epitome of a good communicator. He always listened to His Father, in fulfilling His mission. And when He listens, He also communicates. Like Jesus, we should learn to communicate to God through prayer. And when we pray, we do not just communicate, we should also listen. God wants to talk to us. He wants us to be open to His Word - that is why in the Gospel, the word 'effetah' was used, which means "be opened" - which shows God's desire to communicate to us, and to show how much He loves us. God speaks to us in the daily events of our life - we need to prepare ourselves to listen to what God is telling us, that we may also learn to proclaim His Word to others.
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