In this Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time the Prophet Isaiah tells the people of Israel whose hearts are "frightened ‘…"Be strong! Fear not! Here is your God; he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you." He is able to say this to them because he knows that God will come to His people…to the deaf, the frightened, the blind, the unemployed, the sick, those suf-fering in failing marriages or broken relationships—to all in need. And then all will be healed, "…the burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water." All will be well, very well indeed.

In the Gospel of Mark, Christ fulfills this prophesy—God has come! And He is not a distant, aloof, far-of God who cares little of His peoples’ needs. No, He is a God who rolls up His sleeves and goes to work—getting down in the "dirt" to help and heal those in need. St. Mark tells us that Jesus, in compassion, takes a deaf and mute man off by Himself and enters right into that man’s suffering, entering into his "dirty world," touching the man’s eyes and his ears with His own hands and fingers. Jesus then cries out " Ephphatha!"(Be opened) and the man is healed.

The same challenge that Christ took upon Himself—entering into another’s world of pain and suffering— is the same challenge you and I are faced with today. We— as disciples of Christ—are called by God to go out and get involved in the dirty, suffering world, healing someone else. Like Jesus going to the Decapolis, we must leave our comfort zones of niceties and enter into areas of pain and suffering: for some it will be to join in and help with the homeless at a food shelter or visit the sick at McLean or bring Holy Communion to the sick at St. Francis Hospital. For others it might mean helping to heal a friend in a broken marriage or debilitating relationship, it might mean being a mentor to a child in need, or a friend to someone suffering from depres-sion. As did Jesus, we must "dirty" ourselves with the pain of someone else and help bring them healing out of faith. Faith and belief that God cares, and through His disciples— you and me—He cares so humanly, so powerfully.

Like the deaf and mute man who was healed, when someone is given hope, when someone finds an answer to their problem, when God is brought into their lives—they then go out and proclaim this goodness to the world. Our challenge as believers and disciples of Christ is to take our faith—our hope and trust in Him—and transform someone else into belief. In doing so, like Christ we use our hands and hearts to bring God’s love to others. Let us leave our comfort zones of Sunday Masses and enter into the many ministries our Catholic faith offers us so that we can truly become the image and likeness of God. May our actions give life to the words Isaiah spoke all those centuries ago: "Be strong! Fear not! Here is your God; he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you."

This might be a good time to check out all our parish’s ministries...or start one.