POPE FRANCIS

ANGELUS

Saint Peter's Square

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Today's Gospel (Mark 7:31-37) recounts the healing of a deaf-mute man by Jesus, a miraculous event that demonstrates Jesus' restoration of full communication between humanity and God and with one another. The miracle takes place in the Decapolis region, that is, in the heart of pagan territory; consequently, this deaf-mute man, carried by Jesus, becomes a symbol of the unbeliever on the path to faith. Indeed, his deafness expresses the inability to hear and understand not only the words of men, but also the Word of God. And Saint Paul reminds us that "faith comes from hearing" (Romans 10:17).

The first thing Jesus does is take this man away from the crowd: he doesn't want to publicize the act he is about to perform, but neither does he want his words to be drowned out by the surrounding clamor and chatter. The Word of God that Christ transmits to us needs silence to be heard, like the Word that purifies, reconciles, and restores communication.

Two gestures of Jesus are then highlighted. He touches the ears and tongue of the deaf-mute man. To resume his relationship with this man "blocked" in communication, he first tries to re-establish contact. But the miracle is a gift that comes from above, which Jesus implores from his Father; for this reason, he raises his eyes to heaven and commands: "Be opened!" And the deaf man's ears are opened, the knot in his tongue is untied, and he begins to speak properly (cf. v. 35).

The lesson we learn from this episode is that God is not closed in on himself, but opens himself up and enters into communication with humanity. In his immense mercy, he overcomes the abyss of the infinite difference between himself and us, and he comes to meet us. To accomplish this communication with humankind, God becomes man: it is not enough for him to speak to us through the Law and the Prophets; he makes himself present in the person of his Son, the Word made flesh. Jesus is the great "bridge-builder," who builds within himself the great bridge of full communion with the Father.

But this Gospel also speaks to us about ourselves: often, we are withdrawn and closed off, creating many inaccessible and inhospitable islands. Even the most basic human relationships sometimes create situations incapable of mutual openness: the closed couple, the closed family, the closed group, the closed parish, the closed nation… And this is not God! It is us, it is our sin.

Yet, at the origin of our Christian life, in baptism, there is precisely this gesture and this word of Jesus: "Ephah! — Be opened!" And the miracle took place: we were healed of the deafness of selfishness and the muteness of closure and sin, and we were inserted into the great family of the Church; we can listen to God who speaks to us and communicate his Word to those who have never heard it, or to those who have forgotten it and buried it under the thorns of the world's concerns and deceptions.

We ask the Blessed Virgin, woman of listening and joyful witness, to support us in the commitment to profess our faith and to communicate the wonders of the Lord to those we meet on our path.