The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with our Baptismal anointing as priest, prophet, and leader as we are reminded to process what we hear and decide how we speak with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The reading from the First Book of Kings describes the tearing apart of Solomon’s kingdom.
* [11:26–43] The last major unit of the Solomon story tells how the prophet Ahijah announces the divine intention to take the larger part of Solomon’s kingdom from his control and give it to Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant. This counterbalances the first unit of the story, 1:1–2:12a, where another prophet, Nathan, managed to influence the royal succession and obtain the throne for Solomon. The unit is also the first part of the story of Jeroboam (11:26–14:20). It thus acts as a literary hinge connecting the two stories. Chronicles contains a death notice for Solomon in 2 Chr 9:29–31.
* [11:29] The narrator uses a powerful wordplay here. In the Hebrew consonantal text, Ahijah’s cloak (slmh) is indistinguishable from Solomon’s name (slmh). Since a prophetic gesture such as Ahijah’s was understood as effecting the event it announced, Ahijah’s tearing of his cloak embodies the divine action that will tear Solomon’s kingdom apart (cf. vv. 11–13). (1 Kings, CHAPTER 11, n.d.)
Psalm 81 declares God’s Appeal to Stubborn Israel.
* [81:10] There shall be no foreign god among you: as in Ps 50 and 95, Israel is challenged to obey the first commandment of fidelity to God after the proclamation of the exodus. (Psalms, PSALM 81, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus Cures a Deaf Man.
* [7:24–37] The withdrawal of Jesus to the district of Tyre may have been for a respite (Mk 7:24), but he soon moved onward to Sidon and, by way of the Sea of Galilee, to the Decapolis. These districts provided a Gentile setting for the extension of his ministry of healing because the people there acknowledged his power (Mk 7:29, 37). The actions attributed to Jesus (Mk 7:33–35) were also used by healers of the time.
* [7:36] The more they proclaimed it: the same verb proclaim attributed here to the crowd in relation to the miracles of Jesus is elsewhere used in Mark for the preaching of the gospel on the part of Jesus, of his disciples, and of the Christian community (Mk 1:14; 13:10; 14:9). Implied in the action of the crowd is a recognition of the salvific mission of Jesus; see note on Mt 11:5–6. (Mark, CHAPTER 7, n.d.)
Scott McClure comments that as central as the sacraments are to our spiritual life (indeed, they are essential), Jesus sends all of us forth to love and serve one another as he does in his healing of the deaf man in today’s gospel.
It is God who finds us. Today’s gospel shows us this as it was Jesus who went out and found the deaf man. All twelve of Jesus’ apostles would attest to the same experience of being found by him.
Our faith is one that calls us out of ourselves and calls us out into the world. The celebrant of that Mass those years ago was right - we do find God in the sacraments. But let us do justice to these amazing gifts Jesus instituted so we, too, might love as he loved and allow ourselves to be found by him. (McClure, 2024)
Don Schwager quotes “The touch of the Lord,” by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD).
"That power which may not be handled came down and clothed itself in members that may be touched, that the desperate may draw near to him, that in touching his humanity they may discern his divinity. For that speechless man the Lord healed with the fingers of his body. He put his fingers into the man's ears and touched his tongue. At that moment with fingers that may be touched, he touched the Godhead that may not be touched. Immediately this loosed the string of his tongue (Mark 7:32-37), and opened the clogged doors of his ears. For the very architect of the body itself and artificer of all flesh had come personally to him, and with his gentle voice tenderly opened up his obstructed ears. Then his mouth which had been so closed up that it could not give birth to a word, gave birth to praise him who made its barrenness fruitful. The One who immediately had given to Adam speech without teaching, gave speech to him so that he could speak easily a language that is learned only with difficulty (Genesis 1:27-28). (excerpt from HOMILY ON OUR LORD 10.3) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 7:31-37 comments that this amazing gift of new life in Christ is what inspired the apostles to preach the gospel. It’s what they gave their lives for. They knew that Jesus had changed everything, and they couldn’t help but speak about it to anyone who would listen—even when they were ordered not to (Acts 4:18-20).
So what do you have to say about your experience? Don’t keep it to yourself! Be like the man in today’s Gospel, and let everyone know how Jesus has changed you. Shout it from the rooftops, in fact. Because the good news is too good to keep hidden!
“Lord, open my lips to speak about the miracle of your mercy!” (Meditation on Mark 7:31-37, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the symbolic action of the prophet tearing his garment and informing Jeroboam that he would become leader of the ten northern tribes of Israel. The action of Jesus opening the ears and releasing the tongue of the man is revisited in our Baptismal liturgy. Friar Jude reminds us to fill our speech with value, compliment, and gratitude.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the Trinity has tremendous practical, pastoral, and political implications. We don’t have time for anything less than loving! Fear will never build a “new creation” (Galatians 6:15); threat is an entirely bankrupt and false storyline. The lowest level of motivation is guilt, shame, reward, and punishment; it has not moved us anywhere close to a civilization of love. [2]
When we—as individuals, a family, a church, or nation—find ourselves drawing any negative or fearful conclusions about God, we need only look deeply inside ourselves and we will probably find that we are angry and projecting our anger onto God. This very human pattern is illustrated throughout the Bible. [3]
Our sacred stories reflect both the growth and resistance of the human soul. I call it three steps forward, two steps backward. References to the “wrath” of God are examples of two-steps-backward storytelling. Yet the whole story moves slowly and inexorably toward inclusivity, mercy, unconditional love, and forgiveness.
The Trinity beautifully undoes all negativity by a totally positive movement that never reverses its direction. God is always giving, even in those moments when we experience the inaccessibility of love as if it were divine anger. I do not believe there is any wrath in God whatsoever—it’s theologically impossible when God is Trinity. [4] (Rohr, 2024)
We are reminded about the importance of our participation in our environment and our need to invoke the Spirit as a guide to understand what we are hearing and to reflect our connection to Christ in what we are speaking.
References
Mark, CHAPTER 7. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 9, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/7?
McClure, S. (2024, February 9). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved February 9, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/020924.html
Meditation on Mark 7:31-37. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved February 9, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/02/09/891893/
1 Kings, CHAPTER 11. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 9, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1kings/11?29
Psalms, PSALM 81. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 9, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/81?10
Rohr, R. (2024, February 9). No Time for Anything but Love — Center for Action and Contemplation. Richard Rohr. Retrieved February 9, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/no-time-for-anything-but-love/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 9, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=feb9
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