Today’s Gospel concludes the section recounting the ten miracles of Jesus (chapters 8-9). The last miracle described is that of a man whose deafness results from being possessed by a demon.
The man is brought to Jesus by the people. Jesus casts out the demon and the man is immediately able to speak. Faced with this miracle there is a double reaction: that of the people and that of the Pharisees. The people are stunned, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!” The implications of Jesus’ divine origins are very clear. On the other hand, the Pharisees say, “It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.” Elsewhere Jesus will show the absurd illogic of that accusation.
The stories of the blind, deaf and mute in the Gospel always have a deeper meaning. Far more serious than physical blindness, deafness and inability to speak is being blind, deaf and dumb spiritually. The Pharisees in the Gospel represent these people as in this story. They are blind because they cannot or do not want to see God working in Jesus; they are deaf because they do not hear or do not want to understand what he is saying. And they are also dumb because they cannot speak the words of life that Jesus gives them.
Jesus had a dual mission, to preach the Good News of God’s love and salvation and to deliver people from the power of sin, disease and evil spirits. The first part of today’s Gospel describes the misinterpretation of Jesus’ liberating mission by the Pharisees when Jesus heals a mute man through exorcism. In the second part, Jesus expresses true compassion for the shepherdless sheep of Israel because their shepherds were more interested in the outward observance of the Law and its sacrifices than in giving people God’s words and promoting the practice of love, mercy and justice. That is why Jesus reminds his listeners to pray for true shepherds to care for them and guide them.
Life messages:
-We need to share the preaching and liberating mission of Christ. We remember the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Now Jesus has no other mouths, eyes, ears, hands and feet than ours.” Jesus thus entrusts the mission of preaching and healing to us and helps us carry it out.
-Today the situation has not changed. The harvest is bigger than ever; people are as lost and leaderless as they have ever been despite the great advances in knowledge we have made. Where are the workers? It is not just the bishops, priests, religious brothers and sisters. This is a very narrow concept of workers. Every single baptized person is called, in some way, to be a reaper, to help people find and experience the truth and love that God gives in Jesus. Every single person, in this sense and it is a very real sense, has a vocation, a call to serve and to build the Kingdom.
-What, where and with whom is my vocation?