NOTE: Christ in Our Neighborhood is a parish-based program consisting of small groups that gather in the home weekly to discuss and pray through the upcoming Sunday Mass readings. Find out more at Christ in Our Neighborhood – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix (dphx.org)
This coming Sunday, we celebrate the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. The question the Christ in Our Neighborhood reflection asks us is: Considering Jesus’ warning, how would you have reacted to the miracle witnessed in the Gospel today?
I think I would have been completely amazed to see someone who is deaf completely healed. One minute, the man can’t hear and has a speech impediment. Mark’s Gospel says that after Jesus laid hands on him and prayed, the man’s ears were opened and “he spoke plainly.”
Have you ever seen those videos that show how a baby reacts after a cochlear implant? It always brings tears to my eyes to see that incredible joy and wonder that lights up the little one’s face. I imagine that’s how the man Jesus healed must have felt.
And it would be pretty hard to not share such astonishing news! I’d like to think I would keep it quiet as Jesus asked, but I’m guessing I would have told my husband and made him promise to keep it to himself. I don’t have much of a poker face and he would have guessed something big happened.
And really, what’s bigger than a miracle?
To sign up for our weekly Christ in Our Neighborhood newsletter that has everything you need for your next meeting, visit: https://phoenixdiocese.flocknote.com/CION
