Dear friends in Christ

When we come to Mass this Sunday, we will hear the narrative of the cure of a deaf and dumb man. Jesus takes the man aside, and places His fingers in his ear and touches his tongue in order to heal him. It is at that moment that Jesus says those words which mean: Be opened! We can see in this cure which our Lord performs, as an image of His action in our souls: He frees us from sin. He opens ears to hear the word of God and looses tongues to praise and proclaim the marvels of God. This happens mystically at the moment of Baptism, when the Holy Spirit, which is the finger of God's right hand, opens our hearts and minds to hear the Word of God, and to proclaim that Word. In fact, there is a lovely prayer that the priest says while touching the ears and the mouth of an infant after the Baptism: The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak, may He soon touch your ears to receive His word and your mouth to proclaim His faith to the praise and glory of God. Saint Augustine, in commenting on this passage of the Gospel, says that the tongue of someone united to God: will speak of the Good, will bring to agreement those who are divided, will console those who weep. God will be praised, Christ will be announced. These deeds we will do also, if we have our hearing attentive to the continuous inspirations of the Holy Spirit and if we have our tongue ready to speak of God, uninhibited by human respect.

God bless you!

Msgr Kevin Hale