Homily, 9-8-24; 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Ephphatha!—Be opened!
Be open; have eyes to see and ears to hear. We hear this theme often in the gospels. Being open to the Word of God is very important, but it is only the first step; we must share the knowledge we obtain with others. We hear and then we speak.
I have been a deacon for almost 25 years. And one of the most wonderful blessings for me has been baptizing babies, especially all thirteen of my grandchildren. I introduce this homily with the subject of Baptism because there is one special prayer that is part of the rite that is derived from this morning’s gospel story. It is the Ephphetha Prayer, or simply the Prayer over Ears and Mouth. The minister touches the ears and the mouth of the baby and says: “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, grant that you may soon receive his word with your ears and profess the faith with your lips to the glory and praise of God the Father. Amen.”
At our baptism we are called to hear the word of God, but also to proclaim our Christian faith. We are not supposed to keep it to ourselves. In the gospel, Jesus tells the people not to tell anyone about the miracle that He has performed. It was one of the miracles foretold by Isaiah as a sign of the coming of the Messiah; we heard the passage in our first reading. But, Jesus does not yet want people to know that He is the Messiah. The people, however, are so astonished that they cannot keep what they have seen and heard to themselves. The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. It changed their lives. Does it change your life?
We need to reflect on whether we proclaim our Christian faith. And when I say that, I don’t mean proclaiming all the rules and facts about our Catholicism.
- I mean proclaiming that God humbled Himself to become a man, and His name is Jesus.
- I mean proclaiming that Jesus loves us so much that He willingly died for us so that we can have the opportunity to be in Heaven with Him and His Father and the Holy Spirit for eternity.
- I mean proclaiming that Jesus conquered death by rising from the dead so that we too can have new life; that our bodies will be resurrected on the last day.
- I mean proclaiming our faith, not necessarily by what we say, but by how we live each day.
Do our actions match what we say we believe? The rules and facts of our faith are important, but they are a second step; we must first want to teach others about Christ. Once they know Christ and His love for each one of us and then believe in Him, they will be all too willing to serve Him and obey His commandments and the teachings of His Church. We must be careful not to become like the Pharisees; preaching rules instead of recognizing Christ and leading souls to Him.
This is important as we look across the political mine field. As I was driving back from Wisconsin this last week, I heard a disturbing statistic on the radio about Catholic support for Kamala Harris. And so I looked into when I got home. According to a survey of Catholic voters by EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research, “50% of self-identified Catholic voters currently support Harris for president, while 43% support Trump.” And, “Harris enjoys a commanding 19-point lead among Catholic women.” (https://www.ncregister.com/news/catholic-vote-2024-support-for-harris) The support for Harris surprises me because of her, and her party’s support of anti-life and anti-family policies, such as abortion on demand with no restrictions up until birth, transsexual programs for minors, biological males competing in women’s sports, and many other woke concepts that go against Catholic teaching. Their policies are anti-Catholic, anti-Christian. Many may not like Trump’s personality and demeanor. While they may think he is mean, his past administration didn’t attack pro-lifers and put them in jail. His administration won’t be riddled with an inordinate number of folks claiming to be gay, transgender, or non-binary. In the upcoming election, there is more to consider than the personality of the candidate at the topic of the ticket. The policies of the party behind the candidate are much more important, and there is a clear difference between the parties, especially as they relate to basic tenets of our Catholic faith. Trump may not be ideal on pro-life issues, but Harris and the Democrats are definitely pro-abortion. We must put aside the personalities of the candidates and look for the administration that will support our values and then vote accordingly. Do not sit home and waste your vote just because you don’t like the candidate at the top of the ticket.
Once again this election year, pro-lifers struggle and pray for votes to get the most pro-life candidate elected. But when Catholics aren’t part of that support, it becomes very difficult. Part of the fault lies with our Church leaders. Abortion is an intrinsic evil. It is not an option or an acceptable choice. Yet our bishops have not publically excommunicated Catholic politicians who actively support abortion. And so those in the pews do not think it is a big deal to do likewise. It is a big deal. St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians which we hear in tomorrow’s daily Mass readings (1 Cor. 5:1-8) talks about the need for excommunication. He says: “The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst. I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as if present, pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed, in the name of our Lord Jesus:”He criticized the Church in Corinth for tolerating grave scandalous sin. I wonder what he would say about the Church in the United States.
Our bishops have some responsibility, but we must look at our own approach as well. We can preach to our fellow Catholics about what the Church teaches regarding abortion and sexuality, but they really already know that. They don’t listen to Christ’s Church, because they don’t first truly know and love Jesus. They may know the faith, but they don’t have the faith. We must change hearts by preaching Jesus by what we say and do, not merely preaching about the rules. We must work for the conversion of all those who self-identify as Catholics, but who are not motivated to follow Church teaching because they do not truly know and love her founder.
In the baptism Ephphatha Prayer, we are called to profess the faith, not the commandments. Let us proclaim our faith in Jesus. Now I can’t come around and touch the ears and lips and each one of you, but I can offer this prayer for you. “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, grant that you may receive his word with your ears and profess the faith with your lips to the glory and praise of God the Father. Amen.”