The Sacraments are effective remedies for the healing of our souls, which are weakened by Original Sin.

Newsroom (12/11/2024 19:12, Gaudium Press) The liturgy for this 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time points us to two ways of life: one focused on materialism and the other on the supernatural.

St. Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, distinguishes between the psychic man, who lives with his eyes on merely tangible and sensible things, and is therefore unable to understand the supernatural world that comes from the Spirit of God; and the spiritual man who, enriched by the gift of the Spirit, understands realities that go beyond human knowledge and wisdom. Thus, the Apostle compares the members of the Church to those who have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, in order to know the gifts of grace that have been given by the Creator (cf. 1 Cor 2:12).

The First Reading, taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, emphasizes this idea by proclaiming the prophecy that there would be a time when the eyes of the blind would be opened, their ears unstopped and their tongues loosed (Is 35:5-6). This was fulfilled with the coming of the Messiah, Our Lord, for, more than the healing of physical ailments carried out by Jesus throughout his public life, He came to bring the healing of souls, elevating them with the divine life received in Baptism. It is true that Original Sin had disastrous consequences for man, such as a strong tendency towards evil inclinations, the fruit of a disorder of being; but God wants, in His infinite Goodness and Mercy, to heal these effects of sin on our souls.

What are the conditions necessary for this to happen?

The healing of the soul

Today’s Gospel describes the scene of a deaf man who was brought to Jesus to be healed. The Divine Master took the man out of the crowd, put His fingers in his ears, spat and touched his tongue with His saliva. Then:

‘Looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said: ‘Ephphatha! which means “open up”! Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released and he began to speak without difficulty’ (Mk 7:34-35).

All the gestures made by Our Lord were intended to remove any doubt that it was He Himself who was performing these cures. And just as He opened that man’s ears and loosened his tongue, Jesus continues to cure deafness and spiritual dumbness through the Sacraments, especially through a well-done Confession and a well-received Holy Eucharist. Therefore, it is enough to approach well the Sacraments left by Christ to his Church, for then healing will come.

Finally, we must be like the man described in the Gospel, and walk towards Jesus with a trusting heart full of faith, certain that we will be healed of our spiritual deafness and dumbness, free from the things that bind us to the world and to sin.

By Rodrigo Siqueira

Compiled by Sandra Chisholm