Isaiah proclaims so wonderfully today: “Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God he comes to save you!”

Saint James tells us that God chooses the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that he promised those whom he loves.

The Gospel reveals to us the poor: those who can open their hearts to let God in and accept humbly mercy and justice. The poor are those not enslaved to the things of this world, they have nothing but their person to offer Christ.

Material things and constant busyness can contribute to a sense of alienation in the human person who is by nature social and relational. We only grow with other people, not in isolation.

But, we can tend to build up walls around us that inhibit the opening of our hearts to God mainly because we fear that if Christ entered, he would touch our ears and our mouths and change the comfortableness of our routine and false sense of security.

The transformation from alienation to relationship is the way Christ saves the deaf man in today’s Gospel. Our voice reveals our interior self, lets people know who we are, allows them to peer into our souls. Our ears help us to learn more about others, helps us to process hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Our ears are the gateway for the Word of God to speak to our minds and hearts about our relationships. Our voice in conversation and our ears in listening reveal our interior self; reinforces our presence among people, and communicates a sense of our own human and divine mystery.

Accepting the challenge to be more authentically human, obeying the command of Christ to ‘be opened’ helps us be more faithful to God.