I don’t know the value of the hearing aid industry in Ireland but I suspect that it is very significant. Recently I have heard advertisements on radio, encouraging people to have the best possible hearing so that they don’t miss important conversations and more importantly that they are able to have the kind of conversations with families and friends that make life worth living. In case you think that the closing ceremonies here in Our Lady’s Island, have been sponsored by a hearing aid company, I can tell you that they have not. My interest in hearing this evening comes from the Gospel of St Mark which we just heard. Jesus gave his hearing back to a deaf man, not as a social experiment, or an enticing trick to show his power. He had two purposes,
One to show that God’s power to heal was working through him and secondly, to continue his ministry of bringing the outsiders, the disadvantaged, the poor back into their proper place in community life. But like every Gospel story it is a story for our time, for the world in which we live, for the Church of which we are a part and each of here on pilgrimage this evening on Our Lady’s Island.
We are invited to recognise the ways in which we have been deaf to the invitation of Christ through scripture, prayer and also when he speaks to us through the power of the poor, the marginalised and the outsider. The words of Christ to the deaf man “be opened” are addressed to us this evening.
He invites us to
Open our ears to hear the stories of people on their faith journey through life
Open our ears to the power of Christ as he is revealed to us in Scripture
Open our eyes to injustice when we see it and also to the grace of God which is visible in the care and commitment in families, in community, in our schools and parishes. The goodness of God is available to be seen and heard but we have to have open ears, eyes and hearts. Here on pilgrimage our message comes in prayer, in stories and in the sight of other people walking with us and in the beauty of this special place.
The other side of hearing is listening and Pope Francis has called us to be a listening Church. It is what he calls Synodality and it is an invitation to listen to what God is doing in the lives of people around us. When we truly listen, we are not just listening to people but the voice of the Holy Spirit.
During the week we heard of further revelations of the hurt done to children within the educational system in past years. It has taken a long time for our society and our church to open our hears to their story and their experience over many years was that they were speaking to the deaf. It is good that their story is finally being told and heard and if you are someone attending this pilgrimage who carries the burden of past abuse then on behalf of the church I apologise for the hurt and the pain that you and your family have carried over the years. If you still have a story to tell, then I would encourage you to tell it and to be assured of a listening and believing ear.
The picture we have of Jesus in his miracles and his teaching is one of strength coming from his understanding of who he was and from being the bearer of the Holy Spirit into a broken world. He shunned power when the crowds wanted to thrust it onto him. Instead of Power, the image of Christ we have in the Gospel is strength. Power is visible in people when all is going well or when they are in positions of authority. But strength is visible in good times and in bad, in success and failure, it the times familiar to all of us when we are barely holding on. The anchor of strength is truth, which Jesus never wavered from even in the face of the Cross and his promise to us through the church is to face the truth and in quiet strength to know then we are standing with Christ who stands with us.
The final words of today’s Gospel is a hope that like Christ we will be people who will listen deeply to the stories of others and who will give them a voice. The people said of Jesus – he has done all things well – the deaf hear and the dumb speak. At the end of our pilgrimage season here in Our Lady’s Island, we can say of this place – it has done all things well, because people have told their stories and have been heard.