In today’s Gospel reading, we witness another instance of Jesus healing those in need. We see early on that some people brought a deaf man to Jesus. The man did not bring himself to Jesus and ask to be healed, rather those in his life saw his struggle and sought to do something about it. This is a beautiful reminder that good things happen to us often times due to the good will and prayers of those in our community. How amazing is it that this man was loved by those so much that they were willing to go to this length for him!

When the deaf man arrives, Jesus takes him away from the crowd so He can be with him alone. This gesture shows Jesus’s desire to know us as individuals and care for our personal needs. Lastly, he orders the crowd not to tell anyone what they saw there. Jesus’s desire to do these works was not for the spectacle, but rather for the impact He knew it would have on the life of the man and those around him.

I found it interesting when I put myself in the position of the deaf man. I have just been taken to a new place to meet a strange man, and I probably understand little of what is going on around me. This stranger reaches out to touch me, and suddenly I can hear! I can speak! What love and trust I suddenly have in this man. Now, I like to imagine that perhaps some of us have had a moment like this in our faith journeys. A moment when our faith became ours, and we could truly see and feel the power of God in our world. For me, this happened the first time I went on an overnight retreat with some of my family members. I remember praying during a worship session, and viscerally feeling the presence of God. For the first time, God was real to me, instead of just something I was taught to believe in.

I pray that each one of us may have the chance to experience God’s presence with a certainty similar to the deaf man in today’s Gospel.