A Commentary and Reflection on the Readings for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Isaiah 35:4-7b, James 2:1-5, and Mark 7:31-37.
The Liturgy of the Catholic Mass is an Experience with the Word of God
When the Church speaks of Christ Jesus as God’s Word, we mean He truly is the Word of the Eternal Father. We make this finding in three ways: First, Jesus is the Word of God that we can perceive with all our senses; second, not only can we audibly hear the Word of God, but we can also mentally hear Him; and third, not only can we taste the Eucharistic Word of God, but we can healthily digest Him. Moreover, as our breath is the necessary airflow to animate and produce our words, so too is the Holy Spirit, the breath of the Eternal Father, the power of the joint mission of Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit that brings to life that which God speaks. As Christ Jesus is the truth,[1] the Holy Spirit is the guiding movement of truth.[2]
This Catholic understanding of Jesus as the incarnate Word of God who lived and Eucharistically lives among us represented a significant shift from earlier conceptions of divinity. In the Old Testament, God’s presence was known through His actions and commandments, often perceived as a distant or unapproachable deity who used the prophets as His voice on earth. With the New Covenant, however, Jesus is presented as the Word made flesh, living among humanity, sharing in their experiences and, ultimately, their sufferings. This tangible presence of God in Jesus allowed for a more intimate and personal relationship with the divine, contrasting with the more abstract and awe-inspiring depictions of God in the Old Testament. Through Jesus, the Word was not only heard but also seen and touched, emphasizing the reality of God’s accessibility and His desire for a direct, personal, and communal relationship with His creation. This theological evolution marks a profound development in understanding God’s nature and His salvific interaction with the world.
While the term ‘Christ the Living Word of God’ belongs to the catalog of Christology, it was prefigured in the Old Covenant. For example, today’s First Reading at Mass for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B from Isaiah 35:4-7b reads, “Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.” In other words, when God delivers Israel from exile, they will be made whole and come to experience Him in entirely new ways and places, and they will glorify Him in their new bodies and new land.
This prophecy was fulfilled in today’s Gospel Reading from Mark 7:31-37 when Jesus visited the district of Deacapolis, “and people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.” So, not only was the man unable to hear words, but he was also unable to speak words well. That is, he could neither hear God nor proclaim Him. The text then says that Jesus took the deaf man away from the crowd, which is always a monumental moment when Jesus isolates persons and groups, such as the case with the transfiguration, the invitation of Andrew and James to His home, and the agony in the Garden, these isolated encounters with Jesus always preface miracles and transformation. Then, “He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.” Again, Jesus put a salve – a healing ointment – saliva gland fluids from His own mouth into the man’s ears and spoke a word to a man who was deaf, saying, “Be opened!” which not only healed the man’s hearing impairment but his speech impediment as well. This encounter with Jesus made the man whole, and he could now experience God and life in entirely new ways. Moreover, the fact that Jesus used saliva gland fluids, which are intended to help us digest food and keep the mouth moist so that we can speak well, wants to point to the purpose of this miracle: to help this man digest and proclaim the Word of God.
In sacred Scripture, the word ‘ listen ‘ appears around 700 times, including in today’s Second Reading from James 2:1-5, which says, “Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.” God desires for us to hear Him, not only so that we might know how to obey Him and be made whole but also so that we might experience Him through dialogue, communion, and pilgrimage.
Listening and hearing are woven into the very fabric of the Divine Symphony of the Mass. From the moment we hear the call to worship, we are invited to immerse ourselves in the divine dialogue. As the Word of God is proclaimed, it penetrates our hearts, urging us to respond with faith and devotion. In the priest, who stands in persona Christi, we encounter Christ Himself, calling us to a deeper union with the Holy. Through the communal prayers, creeds, and hymns voiced in unison with our brothers and sisters, we experience the collective heartbeat of the Church.
The Word of God, when truly listened to, heals, transforms, and makes us whole. It is through this sacred act of listening that we are remade into living embodiments of Christ’s Word. Guided by the Holy Spirit, we are called to proclaim the glory of God not only through our words but through every action, infusing the mundane with the sacred.
This is just one way the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us on how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
[1] Cf. John 14:7
[2] Cf. John 16:12
