XXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time: 'Ephphata'
The liturgy of this Sunday is an invitation to welcome the beauty of the promises of God. In the First reading from Isaiah, we are told:"The eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf opened, then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy" (Is 35,5). We see how God promises that we will never thirst, never hunger. He will always satisfy our desires! In the Gospel, Jesus challenges the way we relate to others. Sometimes sickness or disability can make us feel awkward but Jesus shows us that we cannot expect to enter into relationship with others if we are not prepared to enter into the messiness and the imperfection of each others lives. This is the Incarnation where God comes into what is utterly human. The incarnation is a reminder that God does not wait for us in marble temples or buttressed cathedrals; rather, He is present with us in the ordinary, the squeamish, the everyday stuff that we wallow in. The incarnation is God-wi...