Holy Spirit Catholic Church
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23rd Sunday in
Ordinary Time
September 10, 2006
Does the name Paul Stookey ring a bell? He enjoyed international fame in the 1960’s as the “Paul” in the folk-singing group Peter, Paul, and Mary. Few people know, however, that Paul went through a lot of soul-searching during his musical career. In spite of his fame and success, Paul felt a deep spiritual hunger inside himself.
One day that hunger got so bad that he turned to another musician for help. The person he turned to was singer Bob Dylan. Stookey said later, “If anyone knew about our spiritual nature back then, it was Bob Dylan.” Stookey and Dylan talked for a long time. Their conversation ended with Dylan making two suggestions.
First, He told Stookey to visit his old high school, walk through its corridors again, and get back in touch with his roots. Second, he told Stookey to begin reading the Bible, especially the New Testament. And so Stookey took Dylan’s advice. He said later, “I started carrying the Scriptures around with me…It was almost like having a brother with you.”
Then, slowly, something began to happen. Stookey explained it this way in an interview: “I began discovering that all the truths I sought were contained in the life of Jesus…It was fantastic. He set a good example, but it never occurred to me that he could really be the Son of God.”
Then one night Peter, Paul, and Mary were giving a concert in Austin, Texas. During the course of the evening, a young man walked up to Paul backstage and began talking to him about Jesus. What happened next is hard to put into words.
Paul expressed it this way: “So, wow, I started to pray with him, and I asked Jesus to take over my life. And I started to cry and he started to cry.” That night, backstage in Texas, the grace of God touched Paul in a remarkable way.
Like the deaf-mute in today’s gospel, Paul’s ears were opened so that he could hear and understand God’s Word in a new way. And his tongue was loosed so that he could praise God and pray to God in a new way. Paul still had a long way to go. His faith journey had just begun. But thanks to that young man in Austin, Texas, grace had touched him profoundly, and he would never be the same again.
That story illustrates an important point that we sometimes forget. Jesus still opens the ears of deaf people today, just as he did in gospel times. He still looses the tongues of people today, just as he did in gospel times. The only difference is the way Jesus continues to do these things. He doesn’t do them through his hands and voice. Rather, he does them through the hands and voice of other people.
For example, Jesus used the young man in Texas to open Paul Stookey’s eyes and ears, so that he could understand God’s Word. And he used him to loosen Paul’s tongue so that he could pray to God.
To put all of this in a more dramatic way, we could say this: Jesus has no feet by which he can walk into the lives of people today. He must use our feet to do that, as he used the feet of the young man in Texas to walk into the life of Paul Stookey.
Jesus has no hands but ours to reach out and heal the ears and tongues of people today. He must use our hands to do that, as he used the hands of the young man to reach out and heal the ears and tongue of Paul Stookey.
Jesus has no voice but ours to speak to the hearts of people today. He must use our voice to do that, as he used the voice of the young man to speak to the heart of Paul Stookey.
Today’s gospel has an invitation from Jesus for each of us in this church today. Jesus is inviting us to lend him our hands that he might open the ears of the deaf and loosen the tongues of the mute today, as he did for the man in today’s gospel.
Jesus is inviting us to lend him our voice that he might speak to the spiritually hungry of our day, as he did to the spiritually hungry of his day.
He is inviting us to lend him our hearts that he might use them to touch the lives of people in our day, as he touched the lives of people in his day.
Lord, touch our ears and open them that we may hear your message. Touch our tongues and loosen them that we may share your message with others. Touch our hearts that we may let you use them to transform our world, as you let the Father use you to transform your world.
This is the message that today’s Scripture sets before us. This is the mystery that today’s liturgy celebrates. This is the invitation that Jesus makes to each one of us today!