Our gospel this Sunday is rich in Catholic tradition illustrated by a man who is deaf and mute, who comes to Jesus by the faith of others, and then there is the resulting praise of others. These are all important faith-filled issues to consider. 

The context of this particular miracle happens in the region of the Decapolis, which is a Gentile area, which is significant in that its meaning is that Jesus’ ministry is now extending beyond the Jewish community, emphasizing the universality of the Faith (the Universal Catholic Church). 

Scripture scholars remind us that deafness is considered as a lack of understanding or the inability to hear God’s Word and muteness represents or symbolizes the inability to express one’s faith or to praise God. Therefore, the healing of this particular man is a spiritual healing, which is thus extended to us all so that we can be enabled to hear the message of God and then go out and proclaim His Word. This Sunday’s gospel follows last Friday’s first reading from St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:1-5) which states that we, the Baptized, are all called to be stewards of the Mysteries of God. So, we are called to be both hearers of Christ’s message and also doers of the His Message, or His Mysteries, of our faith. Faith thus causes us to act or live it out (our new mantra: Believe it. Live it. Share it.) 

It is also very interesting that in this Sunday’s gospel the deaf and mute man is brought by other believers to Jesus, illustrating the communal aspect of our faith. It is good for us to pause here and remind ourselves of the importance of going to Mass. Jesus asks us to pray in community, public worship, and to offer intercessory prayers for the common good. We don’t celebrate Mass individually but rather in community, like-minded believers coming together and praying to our God and for one another. This is also a good time to remind ourselves that the livestreaming of Mass is for the sick or those who, due to immobility, cannot come to Mass. It is not intended as a non-Eucharistic alternative to in-person Mass.

I am always interested in the number of times that Jesus commands those He heals to keep silent and not to spread their miracle story. Scripture scholars inform us that this “Messianic secret motif suggests that Jesus wanted to control the revelation of His identity and mission until the appropriate time.” 

In today’s gospel we hear the response of the people, “He has done all things well” as the crowd’s praise and offer amazement to His powerful healing, this highlights that Jesus’ divine authority and fulfillment of prophecy, in the Catholic belief, is the goodness and perfection of God’s work. 

Miracles are all around us. And as stewards of the mysteries of God we have to believe in miracles and open our eyes of faith to see them. Sometimes the miracles are directly from God—our prayers for a healing of ourselves or of another. Sometimes we use the intercessions of the saints (or the blessed, like Fr. Michael McGivney), and sometimes miracles are “indirectly” from God, through His instruments—His believers. Perhaps the miracle is the phone you make to one who is lonely, depressed or unwell, and you reach out with care and concern. Maybe the “miracle” is the meal you made or the sandwiches you prepared; sometimes the miracle is the kind word or thoughtful act. Big or small, the size of the miracle isn’t important, but as St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “what matters is the love in which the kind act is wrapped.” Paraphrased.

May we hear this gospel today and come to realize that the themes of faith, healing and the universality of Jesus’ mission, are central to our Catholic theology and lived faith experiences as both hearers and doers of His Word. And that our human lives are both corporeal and spiritual, and both kinds of healings are necessary. So may we go out this week and Believe it. Live it. Share it.