HEALING MIRACLES (A Reflection for the 23rd Sunday Yr B, 05.09.21 by Fr Galadima Bitrus, OSA)

Today we are reflecting on the theme, HEALING MIRACLES. In both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, miracles, including those of healing, are strongly attested. Miracles, that is, events that are not explainable according to the ordinary workings of nature, are reported, sometimes as deeds of wonder (“thaumasìa” in Gk), other times as signs (“sȇmeìa” in Gk).
Sometimes miracles are performed directly by God and other times they are performed by charismatic prophets or priestly figures such as Moses and Aaron (cf. Exod 7-11), Elijah and Elisha (cf. 1 Kgs 17:8-24; 18:41-46; 2 Kgs 1:9-12; 4:1-7; 5:1-19; 7:6 etc.); Joshua and Samuel (cf. Josh 3:15-17; 4:7-18; 6:12-20; 1 Sam 4:3-11; 14:18; 2 Sam 11:11) etc.
The healing miracles of Jesus recorded in the Gospels and of his disciples recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, are part of this larger tradition of belief in God’s direct or mediated supernatural intervention in the ordinary workings of nature.
In the 1st Reading (Is 35:4-7), we read of the promise of divine supernatural intervention in the prophecy about the return of the Judeans from Babylon to Zion. According to experts of the geography of the ancient Near East, travellers from Babylonia to the land of Israel would move northwest along the River Euphrates, then southwest through Syria, in order to avoid the route that went directly west through the impassable desert.
But this prophecy insists that the Lord will make it possible for the exiles to go directly and quickly through the desert. In other words, there will be a divine disruption of the workings of nature, such that not only shall waters burst out in the desert (35:7) but also, the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf shall be opened (35:5), and the lame shall jump like the deer and the dumb shall shout aloud (35:6). All this takes place so that Judean exiles can leave Babylon in jubilation and easily pass through the traditionally impassable desert back to the land of Judah.
The Psalm (Ps 146) agrees with the prophecy of Isaiah and attributes such kind of supernatural interventions to God, celebrating them as God’s way of doing things, “it is the Lord who opens the eyes of the blind.” Miracles, therefore, are part of God’s intervention scheme in favour of the less privileged and oppressed of society.
The Psalm enumerates such interventions in hymnic fashion: the Lord does justice to those
who are oppressed, he gives bread to the hungry, he sets prisoners free, he raises up those who are bowed down, he protects the stranger, he upholds the orphan and the widow and thwarts the path of the wicked.
In the 2nd Reading (James 2:1-5), James the apostle of dialogue, mutual respect and mutual acknowledgment, calls on us to rid our faith of personal favouritisms for the wealthy and well to do of the world, meanwhile disrespecting the poor and less privileged (cf. 2:1-4).
The Apostle who reminded us last Sunday that pure and undefiled religion makes care for the widows and the orphans a major agenda alongside keeping oneself unstained by the world
(cf. James 1:27), reminds us today that God has in fact chosen the poor to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him (cf. James 2:5).
In other words, while the privileged in the world feel important in the world because they have inherited it, our faith communities must be places where the poor find their sense of inheritance and importance. For often, being poor in the world is a result of building one’s priorities on the values of the kingdom and not giving in to the temptation to make it at all cost in the world. As such, the poor must be prioritized in every faith community that prioritizes the values of the kingdom.
The Gospel (Mk 7:31-37) continues the theme of healing miracles by means of which God erupts into the natural way of things in order to heal and to save, to uplift and to liberate. In
the Gospel passage, a man who suffered from both blindless and speech impediment is brought to Jesus who intervenes and restores both his hearing and speech.
It is an unusual presentation of Jesus’ healing which ordinarily takes place by word alone, emphasizing Jesus’ divine transcendence. Here and in the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida in Mark 8:22-26, the healing is described in highly anthropomorphic terms (that is, the divine acting in a human way), with Jesus touching the ears of the deaf man and spitting and touching his tongue (7:33).
However, this way of telling stories is not entirely new among Jews. In Genesis, we have two accounts of creation: the first (Gen 1:1-2:4a) reflects the transcendental perspective in which God creates simply by saying the word, and the second (Gen 2:4b-3:24) an anthropomorphic one in which God is portrayed mixing clay, breathing into it and taking out of a man’s rib the material to make a woman, etc.
In any case, the healing of a man who is both blind and deaf bears an important lesson of Jesus’ commitment to raising the less privileged in society to a position of value in the scheme of God’s kingdom. For the blind and the deaf were equated with minors (Heb. “qatan”) and the mentally ill (Heb. “šoteh”) in some rabbinic sources and were as such not considered responsible for observing the law.
By nature, this one and the same man was destined to be considered like a perpetually mentally ill minor since he was both blind and dumb. The divine intervention in this man’s natural story restored him to the fullness of his freedom and dignity, and therefore raised him to the full status of a responsible member of society, with rights and privileges as well as
obligations and duties.
The lesson for us, therefore, is simple: as men and women of faith, we recognize the ordinary workings of nature, but we believe that God who is the author of nature is not limited by its laws. For our sake, God is able and willing to supernaturally intervene in the ordinary workings of nature to make sure that we make it through the deserts and difficult situations of life and to ensure that we are fully restored to the original plans, he, the Lord has in store for us.

May God intervene in your story, to uplift and liberate you from whatever has compromised the workings of his grace in your life, and so restore you to the fullness of his will and plans for you.
Have a blessed week!