When Jesus heals a deaf man in today’s gospel, he orders everyone not to tell anyone. What’s the big secret? Fr. Eric Sundrup, SJ, reflects on the Good News of God’s love and mercy, something we just can’t keep to ourselves. Based on the readings for Sunday, September 5, 2021.
Do people think you’re good at keeping secrets?
Hi, I’m Fr. Eric Sundrup and this is my One-Minute Homily.
Let’s try something:
Don’t think about a pink elephant.
Did you think about a pink elephant?
Yeah, I did too! It’s hard not to.
And so it is, I think in today’s Gospel. Jesus heals a deaf man with a speech impediment and then he orders everyone not to talk about it.
Yeah right… like that’s gonna work.
It makes me wonder, what’s going on here.
In Mark we hear:
“He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.”
Come on Jesus, you had to know that was going to happen.
Why the secret?
Well, Jesus wasn’t doing this for the likes or the retweets. Jesus is in this for the love and care of the person right in front of him. And God’s still in it for us. That’s some pretty Good News…we’ll probably never be able to keep that part a secret.
