blindness and deafness - 14th week tuesday

When we hear stories of blindness, deafness and dumbness in the gospel there is always a deeper meaning attached to them.  These are not just physical defects, they can also be spiritual, they can be symptoms of a lack of faith.  These are not just defects of the senses but they can also be a defects in our psycho-emotional and affective lives.  There are defects there too which need healing.  There are defects there too which need to be presented to the healing hand of Jesus.

In our gospel today this is exemplified by the Pharisees who cannot see or probably who refuse to see that God is at work in Jesus.  They do not want to hear and understand what Jesus is trying to say to them.  And thus they refuse to speak the words of life which Jesus shares with them.

In our dialect we have an interesting way of designating somebody who is not actually deaf but who acts deaf.  We refer to this action nagapa bungol-bungol.  We repeat the word that pertains to that defect.  Nagapabulag-bulag.  Nagapamango-mango.  In other words, nagapakuno-kuno.  When we refuse to accept the data from our senses we intensify the defect, they become more than just physical defects for indeed they are now defects of the will.  The person is capable, there is nothing wrong with his or her capacity, however this person refuses to use them. And that according to John Chrysostom is not just a natural defect but the malignity of the demon or the evil touch of the devil in the person himself that creates ill-will on the practices of religion.  Thus the saint said this person needed to be brought to Jesus by others.  He cannot ask for himself for he does not have a voice, what with the demon chaining his spirit together with his tongue.  In the gospel, faith was not required from him to be healed because he can never be capable of faith.  If he was healed, it was because he was brought to Jesus by others.  St John Chrysostom's reflection on our gospel today.

Many of us probably may have encountered or know people we can consider blind, deaf, dumb or mute to Jesus and the faith he offers.  Many of them are good people, many of them are people we work with, people we care about and love – good people, but they refuse to see, they refuse to hear or acknowledge or understand things in the light of faith.  Probably there are those of you here who have them in your own family, a son, a daughter, a husband or your in-laws – they are exactly your opposite – you are so passionate about your faith and they however either do not mind us or even sneer at your passion.  They may not be atheists or unbelievers, at best they may be skeptics or they may even be religious, but they do not do what we expect from religious Catholics who go to mass regularly and come to confession. And yet they are good people.

St. John Chrysostom says it is our faith that will bring them to Jesus and it is Jesus' initiative that will open their eyes, ears and mouth, it is up to Jesus to drive away what he calls the malignity of the demon or the ill will towards religion or the practices of religion

I remember when I entered the seminary in first year high school I began praying for a loved one to become a practicing catholic once again.  I never missed that prayer every night before I sleep – every night.  The prayer was answered 35 years later.  Not only your faith but especially the initiative of Jesus, the divine initiative.  We have to learn to wait too, and sometimes waiting it out for a very long time.

We never give up on each other.  In this year of mercy let us do something for people who have what John Chrysostom call the malignancy of the demon, to allow our faith to bring them to the attention of Jesus and to wait, to never give up waiting for Jesus to grant our healing request.