Do you have selective hearing/selective speaking?
So, this day, I have a short homily and then an intro to the anointing of the sick.
The homily
No one chooses to be deaf. Nor do they chose to have a speech impediment. Or at least so I would like to think. And yet, when I am honest, I realize there are times when I choose both. It is easier to read America Magazine for me than to read the National Catholic Register. And to watch/listen to NPR than Fox news. Let me control where I get my news source – what I will hear and it is much easier. If you are like me, then we all make the choice to have selective hearing.
And I think there are also times when we have selective speaking. We choose when to speak and when to not speak. We do open our mouths to express our outrage when we feel our rights are violated. But our speech suddenly becomes impaired when individuals or groups we dislike face unjust treatment.
Most recently, I find myself not wanting to hear any more peoples’ stories of anger or frustration or sorrow at the abuse scandal. (I ALWAYS WILL, please know that.) I know, that like a festering wound, the toxin has to come out. But sometimes I just want to be deaf. And, since, I have no idea what to say or how to respond, other than to say, I know that sorrow and anger and frustration, I also get pretty quiet. And this is not a time for quiet in the church, is it.
And into that experience of being a bit deaf and dumb, comes a single word: Ephphatha: Be opened. Into that experience of not wanting to hear, and not knowing what to say, I imagine Jesus wanting to pull me aside, as he did the deaf man with the impediment in today’s gospel. I imagine him wanting to touch my heart, my ears, my voice -so that I might know what to say, that I might know how to hear, amid so many voices these days suggesting this and that course of action, this or that cause of blame. I just imagine him in front of me saying: Ephphatha – be opened, so that I might know how to be a healing presence of love to the world.
And that is what I pray for us all these days. Before we ever speak, before we ever listen, or read the next bit of whatever, before we enter even the chaos of our daily world with all its news and craziness and business, perhaps that is what is most needed – that pause that says: Ephphatha – Be Opened to what God has in mind for you, your family, the victims of abuse [point to the cross], this world of ours. Be open to God’s healing word, spoken to you and through you. Be open to be God’s healing voice, trusting that God indeed has a word of hope to be spoken through you. May that be our one word or two word prayer this week. Ephphatha. Be opened.
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About the anointing of the sick
Finally, in just a moment, Fr. Johnson will join me at the altar as we celebrate the anointing of the Sick. It is a continuation of the ministry that was so at the heart of all that Jesus did. The gospels report again and almost embarrassingly again how often Jesus healed and cured people. How often he touched them and made them well. In the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, we tap into that power and grace.
Two things to say about this gift. One, for many years it has gotten a bad rap as “EXTREME unction” – only to be given/received at the moment of death, and then feared if a person missed that chance before their death. It is extreme only in the sense that there were for the normal catholic three major anointings – the first – at Baptism, the middle – at Confirmation, and the last (primus, medius and extremus) when people were sick. People who did not know the latin language heard the word extreme unction, and thought it was only to be received at the hour of death.
The church says this: When someone is facing a serious surgery, when they are seriously ill, when their health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age, when they need the special help of God’s grace – physically, emotionally, spiritually – they may approach this sacrament for the grace and strength it provides.
Concretely, Fr. Johnson and I will approach the altar. There we will invite those to receive the sacrament to stand. There is a little litany, and then we will pray over them, extending our hands toward them in silence. After thanking God for the gift of this healing oil, we will anoint those in the pews and invite everyone else receiving the sacrament to come down as you would for communion. We will first anoint you on the forehead with these words:
Through this holy anointing, may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Then we will ask you to extend your hands as we anoint your palms:
May the Lord who frees you from sin, save you and raise you up.
Then you may return to your pews.
And we trust that Jesus, who was eager to heal the man of his hearing and speech impediment, also is eager to heal us and bring us his grace.