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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 days ago

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14th February >> Fr. Martin's Reflections/Homilies on Today's Mass Readings for:

The Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius (Luke 10:1-9)

And for

Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time (Mark 7:31-37)

Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Gospel (Except GB & USA) Luke 10:1-9 Your peace will rest on that man.

The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.”’

Gospel (GB) Luke 10:1-9 ‘Your peace will rest upon him.’

At that time: The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace be to this house!” And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the labourer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” ’

Gospel (USA) Luke 10:1-9 The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.

The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’”

Reflections (6)

(i) Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Today we celebrate the feast of the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius. They were born in the city of Thessalonica in Northern Greece around 825. In the ninth century they preached the gospel in Moravia, an area that corresponds to the modern day Czech Republic, Slovakia and parts of Hungary. In their efforts to convey the gospel message to this Slavic people, they translated the Scriptures and the liturgical texts into the local Slav language. They understood that only if the texts were in the native language could they communicate to the local people. In the process they invented a new alphabet, from which the present Slav alphabet is derived; it is still called Cyrillic to his day, after Saint Cyril. For that reason they are regarded as the founders of Slavic literature. Because of opposition from Christian missionaries from Germany, who disapproved of their methods of evangelization, they had to leave Moravia and at the invitation of the Pope they travelled to Rome. Pope Adrian, however, gave his seal of approval to their work in Moravia. Cyril died in Rome in 869. He is buried in the Irish Dominican church of San Clemente in Rome, where an ancient fresco depicts his funeral. Methodius returned to Moravia as a bishop where he preached the gospel in spite of great opposition, including opposition from local bishops who continued to object to his use of the vernacular. Worn out by his labourers, he died in 885. Both brothers are venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. It is only in Luke’s gospel that we hear of Jesus sending out a group of seventy two in pairs, having earlier sent out the twelve disciples. This larger group reminds us that the sharing in Jesus’ mission is not just for a select few. To be a disciple is to be sent out on mission by the Lord. We are all called to be labourers in the Lord’s harvest, in virtue of our baptism. We may not travel far from our native land, like Cyril and Methodius, but we can be the Lord’s missionaries wherever we find ourselves. He sends us out to proclaim by our lives the message given to the seventy two in the gospel reading, ‘The kingdom of God is very near to you’. Each of us in our own unique way can be channels of God’s loving presence to others, just as Jesus was.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. They were brothers from Macedonia in Greece who in the ninth century preached the gospel in Moravia, the modern day Czech Republic, as well as in modern day Slovakia and Hungary. In their efforts to communicate the gospel they translated the Scriptures and the liturgical texts into the local Slave language. They understood that if they were to communicate with the local people, these important texts would need to be in the vernacular. Because of opposition, they had to leave their mission in the Slavic lands and at the invitation of the Pope they travelled to Rome. There Cyril became a monk and he is buried in the Irish Dominican church of San Clemente, where an ancient fresco depicts his funeral. Methodius returned to Moravia where he continued to preach the gospel in spite of great opposition, including opposition from local bishops who objected to his use of the vernacular. Cyril and Methodius were labourers in the Lord’s harvest. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus sends out 72 such labourers, and he calls on those 72 labourers to ask God to send more labourers to the harvest. Jesus was aware that God needed an abundance of labourers in God’s harvest. God needs each one of us. We are all called to be labourers in the Lord’s harvest in one way or another. We may not be asked to travel far from our homes, like Cyril and Methodius. We can labour for the Lord wherever we find ourselves. The Lord will always provide us with opportunities to make his kingdom values present to others.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. They were brothers from Macedonia in Greece who in the ninth century preached the gospel in Moravia, modern day Czech Republic, Slovakia and parts of Hungary. In their efforts to do this they translated the Scriptures and the liturgical texts into the local Slav language. They understood that only if the texts were in the vernacular could they communicate to the local people. In the process they invented a new alphabet, from which the present Slav alphabet is derived. For that reason they are regarded as the founders of Slavonic literature. Because of opposition from Christian missionaries from Germany, they had to leave Moravia and at the invitation of the Pope they travelled to Rome. Pope Adrian approved of their work in Moravia and created the two brothers bishops. Cyril died in Rome in 869, and he is buried in the Irish Dominican church of San Clemente, where an ancient fresco depicts his funeral. Methodius returned to Moravia where he preached the gospel in spite of great opposition, including opposition from local bishops who objected to his use of the vernacular. Worn out by his labourers, he died in 665. Cyril and Methodius were both labourers in the Lord’s harvest in the language of today’s gospel reading. We are all called to be labourers in the Lord’s harvest in one way or another. We are all called to proclaim with our lives the message that Jesus gave to We may not be asked to travel far from our homes, like Cyril and Methodius. We can labour on behalf of the Lord where we find ourselves. The Lord will always provide us with opportunities to help to make his kingdom present to others.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

There is an Irish connection to today’s feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. They were born in Thessalonica in northern Greece in the ninth century. They became noted linguists and scholars and went on to become monks. In response to a request from the leader of Moravia to the Emperor in Constantinople, Cyril and Methodius were sent to preach the gospel in Moravia, corresponding to modern day Czech Republic, Slovakia and parts of Hungary. In their efforts to do this they translated the Scriptures and the liturgical texts into the local Slav language. They understood that only if the sacred texts were in the vernacular could they communicate to the local people. In the process they invented a new alphabet, from which the present Slav alphabet is derived. Today this alphabet is called Cyrillic and is used for Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Serbian. For that reason they are regarded as the founders of Slavonic literature. Because of opposition to their work, they had to leave Moravia and at the invitation of the Pope they travelled to Rome. Pope Adrian approved of their work in Moravia and created the two brothers bishops. Cyril died in Rome in 869, and he is buried in the Irish Dominican church of San Clemente near to the Coliseum, where an ancient fresco depicts his funeral. Methodius returned to Moravia where he preached the gospel in spite of great opposition, including opposition from local bishops who objected to his use of the vernacular. Worn out by his labourers, he died in 885. Cyril and Methodius were both labourers in the Lord’s harvest, in the language of today’s gospel reading. We can all be labourers in the Lord’s harvest in one way or another. We are all called to proclaim with our lives the message that Jesus gave to the seventy two in that gospel reading, ‘The kingdom of God is very near to you’. We may not be asked to travel far from home like Cyril and Methodius, but we can labour on behalf of the Lord wherever we find ourselves. The Lord can use whatever natural gifts we have in the service of his mission to make present the kingdom of God on earth. All he asks for is something of the same responsiveness to his promptings that marked the lives of Cyril and Methodius.

And/Or

(v) Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Cyril and Methodius were brothers who were born in Thessalonica in northern Greece in the ninth century, sons of a prominent Christian family. Because many Slavs came to that part of Greece, they became proficient in the Slav language. They became noted linguists and scholars and went on to become monks. In response to a request from the leader of Moravia to the Emperor in Constantinople, Cyril and Methodius were sent to preach the gospel in Moravia, corresponding to modern day Czech Republic, Slovakia and parts of Hungary. In their efforts to do this they translated the Scriptures and the liturgical texts into the local Slav language. They understood that only if the sacred texts were in the vernacular could they bring the gospel to the local people. In the process of translating they invented a new alphabet, from which the present Slav alphabet is derived. Today this alphabet is called Cyrillic, after Cyril, and is the basis of the Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Serbian alphabet today. For that reason they are regarded as the founders of Slavonic literature. Because of opposition to their work, they had to leave Moravia, and at the invitation of the Pope they travelled to Rome. The Pope approved of their work in Moravia and created the two brothers bishops. Cyril died in Rome in 869, and he is buried in the Irish Dominican church of San Clemente near to the Coliseum, where an ancient fresco depicts his funeral. Methodius returned to Moravia where he preached the gospel in spite of continuing opposition to his mission, including opposition from local bishops who objected to his use of the vernacular. Worn out by his labourers, he died in 885. Pope John Paul II, a Slav Pope, declared them co-patrons of Europe on 31st December 1980. A few years earlier, the Pope had spoken of the brothers as ideal examples of the true missionary spirit, faithful to the tradition which shaped them and yet striving to understand the peoples to whom they were sent. In the language of today’s gospel reading, they were wonderful labourers in the Lord’s harvest. In that reading, as the Lord sends out seventy two labourers, he calls on the seventy two to pray to God, the Lord of the harvest, to send more labourers into the harvest. We are all called, each in our own way, within our own sphere of influence, to be among those labourers the Lord so keenly desires. We all have some gift through which the Lord can work for the coming of his kingdom. If we use our gifts in the service of the Lord, then, he can say through us, in the words of the gospel reading, ‘the kingdom of God is very near to you’.

And/Or

(vi) Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius. They were brothers from Macedonia in Greece who in the ninth century preached the gospel in Moravia, an area that corresponds to the modern day Czech Republic, Slovakia and parts of Hungary. In their efforts to convey the gospel message to this Slavic people, they translated the Scriptures and the liturgical texts into the local Slav language. They understood that only if the texts were in the vernacular could they communicate to the local people. In the process they invented a new alphabet, from which the present Slav alphabet is derived; it is still called Cyrillic to his day, after Saint Cyril. For that reason they are regarded as the founders of Slavonic literature. Because of opposition from Christian missionaries from Germany, who disapproved of their methods of evangelization, they had to leave Moravia and at the invitation of the Pope they travelled to Rome. Pope Adrian, however, gave his seal of approval to their work in Moravia and created the two brothers bishops. Cyril died in Rome in 869. There is an Irish connection to Cyril; he is buried in the Irish Dominican church of San Clemente, where an ancient fresco depicts his funeral. Methodius returned to Moravia where he preached the gospel in spite of great opposition, including opposition from local bishops who continued to object to his use of the vernacular. Worn out by his labourers, he died in 885. Both brothers were wonderful examples of what today’s gospel reading calls labourers in the Lord’s harvest. Their basic message was the message Jesus asked the seventy two to proclaim in whatever town they entered, ‘The kingdom of God is very near to you’. That remains the gospel message for us today. The kingdom of God, God’s loving reign, is very near to us, especially in and through the risen Lord and the Holy Spirit. There is an Irish saying, ‘God’s help is nearer than the door’. Cyril and Methodius travelled far from their hopes to proclaim to the Slav peoples that God was not far from their home but was nearer to them than the door of their home. The Lord is near and he is always inviting us to draw near to him, so that we can draw life and strength from his loving presence to us and within us.

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Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA) Mark 7:31-37 'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'.

Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’

Gospel (USA) Mark 7:31-37 He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.

Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. 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. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Reflections (9)

(i) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

The gospels often describe people bringing someone to Jesus. In particular, people bring those who cannot make their way to Jesus themselves. We are given a picture of people looking out for each other, especially for those who have some form of impediment or disability. We have a good example of that in today’s gospel reading. People brought to Jesus a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech and they begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man. They lead him to Jesus and then they intercede with Jesus on his behalf because he cannot speak for himself. The people who brought the man to Jesus portray one element of our own baptismal calling. We are all called to bring each other to Jesus, and, like the people in the gospel reading, to intercede for each other with the Lord, to pray for each other, especially for those who, for whatever reason, cannot pray for themselves. The Lord draws us to himself in and through each other. He needs us if he is to do his life-giving work, just as he needed people to bring the deaf man who couldn’t speak to him. Each of us is an important labourer in the Lord’s field. The Lord is dependent on every one of us.

And/Or

(ii) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

At a certain point in his gospel, Mark presents Jesus as ministry to pagans, to those beyond the boundaries of Judaism. This morning’s gospel reading is taken from that section of Mark’s gospel. Jesus is in the Decapolis region, a region mostly populated by non-Jews and, there, he heals a pagan man who is both deaf and also has a speech impediment. At the end of the gospel reading, the people of that region say, ‘He has done all things well; he makes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak’. Jesus only directly healed the man’s hearing, but once his hearing was healed, he lost his speech impediment. The gospel reading suggests that hearing is more fundamental than speaking. If our hearing is right, our speaking will be right. There is a very real sense in which listening is prior to speaking. We need to listen carefully before we speak. If we fail to listen, the words we speak may not be the right words. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus first listened to the story of the two disciples; only then did he tell a story of his own that shed new light on their story. As in all else, so in this matter of giving priority to listening over speaking, Jesus is our teacher. In the gospel reading people declare of Jesus, ‘he has done all things well’. His doing all things well was rooted in his attentive listening to God and to others, his attentiveness to all of life.

And/Or

(iii) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

We can sometimes take our senses for granted, the fact that we can see, hear, and speak. A friend of mine suddenly lost his sense of hearing some years ago and the impact of that loss on him at the time was enormous. It is only when we lose one of our senses or someone close to us loses one of their senses that we begin to realize how precious those gifts are. Because they are such wonderful gifts we need to keep asking ourselves, ‘How am I using these gifts of hearing, sight, speech?’ In the gospel reading this morning a deaf man is brought to Jesus with an impediment in his speech. There can be a link between the two; the inability to hear can affect how people speak. Jesus first opened the man’s ears, and then he could speak clearly. For us who have the gifts of both hearing and speech, it is nevertheless true to say that the quality of our speaking is in some way related to the quality of our hearing. The better we are at listening, the better we may be at speaking. We need to listen to each other if we are to speak well to each other. More fundamentally, we need to listen to the word of the Lord if we are to speak the word of the Lord. It is only in listening to him that he can speak through us.

And/Or

(iv) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel reading Jesus heals a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech. I am always struck by the fact that his speech impediment was healed after his ears were opened. His hearing returned first and then he could speak. There is a reminder to us there, perhaps, that hearing can be more important than speaking. Good speaking comes from good listening. That is true of our relationship with each other. We need to listen to each other before we know what to say to each other. It is also true of our relationship with the Lord. We need to listen to his word before we can proclaim that word. Attentiveness to the Lord comes before bearing witness to him by what we say and do. In the gospel reading people declare of Jesus, ‘he has done all things well’. His doing all things well was rooted in his attentive listening to God and to others, his attentiveness to all of life. There is a sense in which we are all a little bit like that man in the gospel reading who was brought to Jesus. We all need our ears to be opened that bit more so that we can speak well and, like Jesus, do all things well.

And/Or

(v) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading, when Jesus was asked by people to heal a deaf man who had a speech impediment, he listened to their request and he responded to it. After Jesus healed the man, he asked those same people not to tell others about what he had done. However, the people who had brought the deaf and dumb man to Jesus did not listen to Jesus’ request. In fact, the more Jesus insisted that they say nothing to anyone about what he did, the more widely they published it. Even though Jesus listened to their request, they did not listen to his request. The man whom the people brought to Jesus did not listen because he could not listen; he was deaf. Yet, we know from our experience of ourselves and of others, that good hearing does not always make for good listening. Our failure to listen can often have an impact on what we say and how we say it. It is striking that when Jesus restored the deaf man’s hearing, he was able to speak clearly for the first time. His hearing and speaking were closely associated. Listening and speaking are also closely associated. The more we truly listen to someone, the more likely it is that the words we speak to them will build them up and bring them life.

And/Or

(vi) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

There is a lovely prayer of blessing over the ears and mouth of the child during the liturgy of baptism. It is prayed shortly after the pouring of water on the child’s head, ‘The Lord made the deaf to hear and the dumb to 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 the Father’. The Lord did indeed make the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. In today’s gospel reading, he made someone who was both deaf and dumb to hear and to speak. The prayer over the child at baptism reminds us that we all need the Lord’s help to hear and to speak, even if, unlike the man in the gospel reading, we are blessed with the gift of hearing and speech. We need the Lord’s help to truly listen to his word to us, and to courageously proclaim our faith in him. The fact that it was only after Jesus enabled the man to hear that he began to speak clearly suggests that good speaking presupposes good hearing. In many respects, hearing is more important than speaking. As it has been said, perhaps that is why the Lord gave us two ears and one mouth. We need to listen twice as much as we speak. If we listen well we are more likely to speak a word that builds up and enlightens. If we listen well to the Lord’s word to us, we are more likely to speak in the way that the Lord would want us to speak.

And/Or

(vii) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

After Jesus heals the deaf man with an impediment in his speech, he calls on his friends who brought him to tell no one about this work of healing. Of course, the friends of the man couldn’t contain themselves and they published it widely. As a result, people remarked of Jesus, ‘He has done all things well’. Jesus is often portrayed in Mark’s gospel telling people not to broadcast some healing work he had just done. We might wonder why. Surely, God’s good work done through Jesus needs to be publicly proclaimed. Perhaps, Jesus didn’t want people following him for the wrong reasons, thinking that he was a just a miracle worker and always wanting him to do more of the same. There is so much more to Jesus than a miracle worker. When he hung from the cross he seemed anything but a miracle worker. Yet, the love that moved Jesus to respond to the sick and broken with compassion was the same love that led Jesus to the cross. He was crucified because he had come to reveal God’s fatherly and motherly love for all, especially for those whom the religious leaders of the time considered sinners. The Lord’s love did not discriminate. What discriminated was how people responded to his love that knew no boundaries. Some found such a love unsettling. We follow Jesus, our Lord, in response to his love for us. His love will not always work miracles in our lives. Sometimes we will find ourselves on the cross with him. At such times, his love for us isn’t any less, even though we may be tempted to think so. His love is always at work in a life giving way in our lives, until eventually it will bring us to a sharing in God’s life of love in eternity.

And/Or

(viii) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

The story of Jesus healing the deaf and dumb man in today’s gospel reading has made its way into the Rite of Baptism. After the child has been baptized, anointed with the oil of chrism and clothed with the baptismal robe, and after the godfather lights the baptismal candle from the Paschal Candle, the priest says a prayer over the child, ‘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 the Father’. This prayer gives us a sense of one of the ways that this miracle story has come to be interpreted in the life of the church. Jesus’ opening of the man’s ears suggests our need for the Lord to open our ears more fully to really listen to his word. Of all the many ways to pray, the prayer of listening doesn’t always come easy to us. We have much to say to the Lord, and we can struggle to listen to what the Lord may be trying to say to us through his word. We all need our ears to be opened so that we can hear the Lord’s word more clearly. When Jesus opened the ears of the man in the gospel reading, he began to speak clearly. Good hearing can make for good speaking. That is true in our relationship with each other, and with the Lord. The more we listen to the word of the Lord, the more our speech is likely to reflect the speech of the Lord. In the language of the baptism rite, the more we receive the Lord’s word, the more we will be able to proclaim our faith in him, in all we say. Today’s gospel reading invites us to ask, ‘How well do we listen to the Lord speaking to us through his word, or through others?’ and ‘How well does our speech reflect and express the Lord’s way of speaking?’ We can all adapt the prayer of the Baptismal Liturgy to ourselves, ‘May the Lord touch our ears to receive his word, and our mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father’.

And/Or

(ix) Friday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

It is said in today’s first reading that the man and his wife hid from the Lord among the trees of the garden. Having eaten from the one tree in the garden that God said was out of bounds, they couldn’t face God. They hid from him in fear. In the gospel reading, in contrast, far from hiding from the Lord, the people of the Decapolis sought him out, bringing to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech. The Decapolis was a region that was occupied mostly by pagans rather than Jews. The people recognized that God was working in a healing, life-giving way, through Jesus. There was no reason to hide from such a person. Indeed, Jesus went looking for those who were considered sinners by the religious leaders of the time, sharing table with them. In the setting of a meal, he wanted to convey to them the merciful and unconditional love of God. We need never hide from the Lord in fear, regardless of what we have done or failed to do. His love for us is perfect and complete, and as Saint John says in one of his letters, ‘perfect love drives out fear’. The Lord is always coming towards us to heal us of our brokenness, just as he healed the deaf man with the speech impediment whom the people brought to him. Sometimes we too need the Lord to open our ears so that we listen more attentively to one another, and to the Lord speaking to us through one another and especially through the Scriptures. The better we hear, the more we listen, the more likely we are to speak well, to speak a word that is helpful to others, just as the man spoke plainly after his deafness was healed. When we allow the Lord we open our ears, then we can proclaim the Lord to others by the way we speak. When the risen Lord joined the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, he listened carefully to their story, to what they had to say, before speaking to them, and when he did finally speak to them their hearts began to burn within them. The Lord shows us how good listening can bear fruit in good speaking.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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