23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - B - September 6, 2015

Made Whole

Bob is a close friend of mine. He is also a quadriplegic. He once gave a retreat talk from his wheelchair I will never forget. After giving the story of his life, he said, “Everyone has a disability. Mine is just visible.” So true, so true. We all have disabilities. We all need Jesus to make us whole, just like the mute in the Mark’s gospel, so we can give him praise.

MP3 PODCAST In this week’s audio podcast, we discuss the power of words, both in quantity and quality.

FIRST READING The prophet Isaiah foretold a time of divine comfort and peace. The disabled would be made whole. That would be a time of God’s presence.

PSALM Psalm 146 praised God for his activity in the lives of his faithful. Through such activity, we can see his unchanging love for us.

SECOND READING In the letter of James, the author proposed something truly radical for his age: equality between the rich and the poor. The Christian, unlike the class prejudice at his time, was to treat all people the same.

GOSPEL In Mark’s gospel, Jesus healed a mute. No only could the man speak, he could also speak his mind. He praised God for the work of the Nazorene.

CHILDREN’S READINGS In the unfinished story for the first reading, Jackie had a bad day, while Henry had a good day. Have your students finish the story in the light of Isaiah’s prophecy to highlight the virtue of hope. In the story for the gospel, Bobbie lost hope with the news of her grandmother’s cancer, but regained that hope when she heard of the successful treatment. Despair can turn to hope when we have the possibility of wholeness, just like Jesus did for the mute.

FAMILY ACTIVITY Have your family reenact today’s gospel story with the “Stuffed Ears” game.