10 February 2023
Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin
The Light of the World dawns upon a man who is deaf and struggles to speak. He cannot ask for healing; rather people brought him to Jesus “…and begged him to lay his hand on him.” What faith! St. Paul tells us that “…faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ…” and quoting Isaiah the apostle writes, “‘I was found by those who were not seeking me; I revealed myself to those who were not asking for me,’” (Romans 10:17, 20). Clearly these Gentiles had heard the things Jesus was doing, and so believed they could help this poor man who could hear nothing, say nothing; these people walked by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), trusting what they had heard of Jesus, who looked like any other Jewish man who might pass through Tyre and Sidon on any day.
Their faith resulted in the healing of their friend whose deafness fled: the first thing he ever heard was the Word of God saying, “Ephphatha!” and his tongue, loosed from its impediment, spoke as its first free word the praises of a God he had never known, never worshiped.
“…the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen…” (Matthew 4:16). It is little wonder, then, that in spite of His command that they tell no one, they could not help themselves; they could not put this new-found light under a bushel basket, for it is as though Christ was the Light of a new day, and they say to each other in the words of St. Paul, “…the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day…” (Romans 13:12-13).