The Power to Speak

Deafness is one of the worst handicaps that a person can have. One of the tragic aspects of deafness is that it arouses little sympathy in others. We usually spontaneously reach out with great compassion to the blind and go out of our way to help them. But we often get annoyed or even make fun of people who are hard of hearing.

In today's Gospel reading Mark tells the story in unusual detail. We read not merely of Jesus touching and speaking to the deaf-mute, but touching the affected parts - the ears and the tongue of the deaf mute using saliva as a means of the healing.

This more elaborate method of healing instead of just a word of command is more appropriate for a deaf man. The use of saliva for healing was quite common in ancient times. The words "Be opened" were probably the first words the deaf-mute ever heard.

In this story we can see the compassionate heart of Jesus, not only in the physical healing of the deaf-mute miracle, but also in expressing his love and care by touching, and using the symbol that the person can understand. For the sick person, he was the focus of the love and attention of Jesus at that moment.

Jesus continues to heal people today. He gives the power of healing to the Church, especially through the Sacrament of the Sick, sometimes called the Sacrament of Healing, or the Anointing of the Sick.

Unfortunately, this Sacrament has been misunderstood and wrongly named in the past. It was popularly known as "Extreme Unction" or "The Last Sacrament," which focuses on the secondary purpose of the Sacrament, which is to prepare a person for death, if that is God's will at the time - to call a person home to the Father in death. The Sacrament prepares him to go in peace and joy to the Father in the company of Jesus.

But because of the misunderstanding, people often have a negative attitude toward the Sacrament.  They look at it as the "Sacrament of No Return." So they wait until the very last dying moment of the sick person before they frantically look for a priest. And oftentimes it is too late.

It is important to remember that the primary purpose of the Sacrament is to restore health of body and spirit to the sick person. Jesus in today's Gospel uses saliva as the healing agent. The priest does not use his saliva.  The Church uses oil, which is believed to have healing and strengthening quality as the material for the Sacrament.

Jesus heals through this Sacrament today. I am a witness to this reality in a number of cases. I was called to a hospital, where a 29 year-old woman was asking for the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession), I was told that she had been deaf to God's word in her past life.  And now she was searching for Jesus to open her heart and soul to find God's peace.

Physically, she was suffering from so many serious complications involving kidney dysfunction, fluid in the lungs, weakening of the heart, and a lump in the ovary, which was suspected to be cancerous. The doctors expected her to last only a few more days.

I heard her confession, and with her consent, administered the Anointing of the Sick, and gave her Holy Communion. Five days later, one of her sisters came to relate to me what happened to the sick woman. After receiving the Sacraments, her whole disposition changed. She was no longer depressed.  She was at peace. The doctors, who examined her the following day could not believe what they found. The patient showed so much improvement and was responding very well to the medication. They could not explain what caused the radical change.

Three days later the patient was ready to be discharged from the hospital. The doctors could not believe the dramatic recovery of the patient or what brought it about.

When the family of the patient came to tell me that I have the gift of healing, I corrected them by saying that I don't have the gift of healing, the Church does. I was only the channel and instrument of God in this Sacrament at the moment. That is, the primary purpose of the Sacrament is accomplished in this case.  "So, thanks be to God!  Continue to pray for the complete healing of her body and spirit."

I have also been personally involved in at least two other instances, where seriously ill patients, were healed in a significant way after receiving the Sacrament of the Sick.

A salesgirl, who had terminal cancer was sent home by her doctor from the hospital and given one month to live. After I administered the Anointing, she recovered and became strong enough to go back to work.

However, there were also times, when God decides to grant the secondary aim of the Sacrament to prepare for a person to meet the Lord.

There was a 55-year-old woman, who was dying of cancer. She was so depressed and worried about the children that she would be leaving behind. After the Sacrament, a sense of peace and acceptance came upon her.

One time when she was in great pain, she called me up to ask me what to do. I told her to offer her pain and suffering to Jesus to be united with him in his passion and cross for the salvation of the world - for her own and others. She said she would try. I was told later on that she died a very peaceful death.

Aside from healing through the Sacrament of the Sick, Christ today heals through the Church in a number of other ways. A great number of hospitals are Church-related. God heals through the skills and caring actions of physicians and nurses. That's why a number of people would go to the priest to receive the Sacrament of Healing before going for a major operation.

Many hospitals have a resident chaplain. Catholic nurses and prayer groups often pray over sick people to bring them peace and recovery.

More importantly, there is a spiritual side to today's Gospel reading - the healing of the soul. Aside from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a number of people who are depressed, or overburdened with life's problems have come to the parish for counseling and spiritual direction.  Usually after some talks and guidance in prayer, they would go out as changed persons - experiencing the peace and the freedom promised by Jesus.  They become stronger and more hopeful. They go back as happy persons.

When we are deaf to God's word (either by involuntary ignorance or willful resistance), we become like those unfortunate who are physically deaf - we are immersed in God's world,  yet we understand little of what is going on. We see people being born and people dying, we see a lot of pain and heartaches, and we see everywhere violence and strife, disappointment and failure, broken homes and broken lives - and we do not know why. We also see some people radiantly happy, some beautiful and productive lives, some people gracefully aging in eager anticipation of something beyond death - and we do not see why.

Yes indeed spiritual deafness is a great misfortune!

The saving action of Jesus makes a person an effective Christian - a believer and apostle.

We cannot be effective apostles to others; we cannot speak if we are dumb. We have nothing to speak about if we are deaf, for we have heard nothing. We have no message to pass on to them.

And Jesus gives us the power to speak to witness to that message by our lives if we ask for it. Each Sunday liturgy is a re-living of the deaf-mute's experience. We are made to hear the word of God and to respond to it through confession of faith.

May we put our heart and mind into what we are doing each Sunday at Mass.