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Contemplating today's Gospel

Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)

View saints: Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
View 1st Reading and Psalm
1st Reading (Gen 3:1-8): Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the Lord God had made. The serpent asked the woman, «Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?». The woman answered the serpent: «We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die’». But the serpent said to the woman: «You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil».

The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Responsorial Psalm: 31
R/. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed the man to whom the Lord imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, «I confess my faults to the Lord», and you took away the guilt of my sin.

For this shall every faithful man pray to you in time of stress. Though deep waters overflow, they shall not reach him.

You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me; with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
Versicle before the Gospel (Cf. Ac 16:14): Alleluia. Open our hearts, o Lord, to listen to the words of your Son. Alleluia.
Gospel text (Mk 7:31-37): Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”)

And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

“He has done all things well”

Fr. Joan MARQUÉS i Suriñach (Vilamarí, Girona, Spain)

Today, the Gospel presents us with a miracle of Jesus: he makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. The people were astonished and said: “He has done all things well” (Mk 7:37).

This is Jesus' biography as narrated by His contemporaries; a short but complete biography. Who is this Jesus? He is who has done all things well. In the double sense of the word: in the “what” and the “how”, in the substance and the manner. He is who has only done good deeds, and who has done them well, perfectly and properly finished. Jesus is a person that does everything well, because He does only good works, and those He does, He delivers well finished. He does not leave anything unfinished; nor does He leave it to be finished later on.

—Why don't you also try to leave everything ready now: your prayers; treating your family and other people; your work; the apostolate; your diligence to develop yourself both spiritually and professionally... Be demanding with yourself, and be also demanding, softly, but demanding, with those depending upon you. Do not tolerate any shoddiness, God dislikes this and it bothers your fellowmen. Do not take this attitude just to pretend, nor because this procedure is the most profitable one, even from a human point of view; do it because God does not like “bad” works nor “good” things done badly. The Holy Scripture asserts: “how faultless are his deeds, how right all his ways!” (Deut 32:4). And the Lord, through Moses, tells the People of Israel: “You shall not offer one that has any blemish, for such a one would not be acceptable on your behalf” (Lev 22:20). Ask for the maternal help of the Virgin Mary, as Jesus also did.

Saint Josemaria Escrivá offers us the secret to succeed: “Do what you should and watch what you do.” Is this how you behave?

Thoughts on Today's Gospel

  • “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you.” (Saint Augustine)

  • “There is an inner closure that affects the person’s inmost self, which the Bible calls the “heart”. It is this that Jesus came to “open”, to liberate, so as to enable us to live to the full our relationship with God and with others.” (Benedict XVI)

  • “(…) In his preaching the Lord Jesus often makes use of the signs of creation to make known the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. He performs healings and illustrates his preaching with physical signs or symbolic gestures. He gives new meaning to the deeds and signs of the Old Covenant, above all to the Exodus and the Passover, for he himself is the meaning of all these signs.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 1151)