I just read about a 90 plus grandfather who was almost stone deaf. Without telling anyone in the family, he decided to buy a high-tech set of hearing aids; they worked perfectly!When the grandfather went back to the audiologist for his check-up, the audiologist said to him, “I’ll bet your family was really surprised and delighted to discover you could hear so well again.” The grandfather replied, “I haven’t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to what they're saying about me. So far, I’ve already changed my will three times.” Moral of the story: be careful what you say and do.
I don't know about you, but I love horses—their all-seeing eyes, their form, their speed and power and grace. It’s still exciting to think about this year’s Triple Crown winner, Justify: a three-year-old colt who won the Kentucky derby and the Preakness and Belmont stakes.
And if you’re a horse racing fan, or even if you’re not, you probably have heard of Seabiscuit: “Horse of the Year” in 1938. The story of Seabiscuit eventually became a 2002 national best seller and film.
Small, with crooked legs, Seabiscuit was labeled a loser because he began his career with 16 losses. But a trainer saw a quality that convinced him Seabiscuit could be a winner.
The trainer persuaded a millionaire to buy the horse for $7,500. The two hired a washed-up prizefighter called Red Pollard as the jockey. A gifted horseman, Pollard, too, sensed in Seabiscuit the “heart of a champion” and quickly bonded with the horse.
Somehow, these three people saw a greatness in the horse that had eluded everyone else. And they began to work with Seabiscuit. Despite absurd odds, Seabiscuit began to win and win, and captivated a country in the midst of the 1930s depression.
The story of Seabiscuit is really a story about “Ephphatha” (the Aramaic word in today’s gospel) -- an “openness” to greatness. And that spirit is contagious. God recognizes the possibilities for spiritual greatness in you and me and in all human beings. He has made us “living temples of God,” so writes Paul in his letter to the Corinthians.
In the waters of Baptism, God breathes his Spirit into us and the power of the Spirit enables us to continue the work of Jesus: to be instruments of God’s compassion and generosity and love and forgiveness to the people around us. And the result of spiritual greatness is character, our moral character, the kind of person we are.
Our challenge is to be our truest selves, the best version of ourselves. As the classical Greek philosopher Aristotle put it, “Excellence is never an accident … choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”
So what does the story of seabiscuit have to do with today's word of God?
The word of God from Isaiah -- a message of hope for anxious folks in the 8th century BC -- describes a new age in which we will experience God in our midst, a God who heals us, refreshes us, and calms our anxieties. Some of course would compare anxiety to a rocking chair. It gives us something to do but gets us nowhere.
Anxiety is a feeling of unease about our life that sneaks up on all of us occasionally. Many people carry the burden of worry throughout their lives; and most of these worries never materialize. We forget that Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are...burdened, and I will give you rest.” In other words, keep company with Jesus and we’ll be at peace within ourselves.
Isaiah here speaks about a new age in which the blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the rivers will flow. Yes, the Messiah will come. God’s word today asks us to remember that in times of darkness, God is our light; in times of brokenness, God is our healer; and in times of discouragement, God is our hope.
The Letter of James urges us to practice two fundamental principles of justice. “Show no partiality”: treat every human being with the same respect, from the beginning of life to the end. After all, we are made in the image of God and one day we shall be like God. And the second principle is “God’s preferential option for the poor.” Jesus says we will be judged by our response to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the prisoner. In other words, what we do to others, we do to Jesus Christ.
In the Gospel according to Mark. Jesus encounters a deaf man, makes time for him, and takes him to a quiet, safe place. Jesus then “puts his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touches his tongue.” Notice: no exam gloves! Jesus doesn’t just cure the man with a fleeting word. By his touch, Jesus enters into this person’s life and, in doing so, brings hope and healing.
The Aramaic word “ephphatha” can mean “be open” or “be released.” Jesus “releases” the man not only from his disability but also from his isolation. It’s awful to feel isolated, isn’t it. I remember what Mother Teresa said – her feast was September 5. She said, “The poverty in the West … is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality.”
Our prayer in light of the Gospel may be that we be released from our fears and anxieties, released especially from a self-centeredness that makes us “deaf” to hearing God and “mute” in responding to someone in need. Let us ask for God's grace to be open to the possibilities for spiritual greatness within ourselves and others. Every day, opportunities to do good open up to us; but do we seize these daily opportunities?
The Letter of James, in particular, speaks about character, our moral character. Character defines who we are, at the core of our inmost self, where, to paraphrase St. Augustine, we are what we are.
People of moral character will choose fair-mindedness over bigotry, the person over impersonal business or material advantage, genuine respect and forgiveness over lust for pleasure or power or status. They will speak up for what is right.
They will choose excellence, when faced with a choice between quality or what is slipshod or “just enough.” Yes, they will do their best to make something “just right” because it is the better and worthier thing to do.
Today, the word of God urges us to have a heart, to seek always what is right and good. For within each of us is the heart of a spiritual champion.
