23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
In our reading, the prophet Isaiah speaks to the people of Israel who were in exile. They had been captured and were living a long way from their home with those who had captured them. They wanted nothing more than to be freed to return to their home. Isaiah tells them that God will come to reward and save them. He will help the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the crippled to jump, and the mute to speak.
In our gospel, some people came to Jesus bringing a man who was deaf and could not talk. They begged Jesus to heal the man by laying his hands on him. Jesus took the man away from the crowd and he touched his ears and tongue. He looked up to heaven and prayed, saying “Ephphatha!” which means “be opened”. Immediately the man could hear and talk. Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone what happened but they soon told everyone what Jesus had done.
Special Saint/Feast Day: - Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary – September 8
Normally, we do not celebrate the birthdays of the saints. Instead, we celebrate the day each died because that is the day each was born into the joys of heaven. We celebrate the birthday of Mary because she came into this world full of grace and because she was to be the Mother of Jesus.
When Mary was born, she brought great happiness to the world. Her birth meant that soon Jesus would come. Mary was the wonderful person whose privilege it was to bring the Lord Jesus to all people.
We can make Mary’s birthday special by saying the Hail Mary often throughout the day.