Dear People of God,

In the poem "The touch of the master's hand" Myra Brooks Welch tells the story of the auctioning of an old dusty violin. The violin was about to be sold for a mere $3. Just then, a grey-haired man stepped forward, picked it up, dusted it off and began to play. The man played such sweet music that when he finished, the bidding jumped into the thousands of dollars. What transformed the dusty old violin into a precious instrument? The touch of the master's hand.

We see something similar in today's Gospel (Mk. 7:31-37). A deaf and mute person was completely transformed by the touch of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person was exceedingly astonished and said, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak." It is one of those miracles of Jesus that advances in distinct stages.

First of all, Jesus began the miracle process by taking the person aside from the multitude. God has a way of leading us to a place of solitude, where God can have our undivided attention. People, touched by our Lord, are those who spent time in isolated settings: Moses, Elijah, etc. God often leads us away from the crowd, so that He could touch us.

Next, Jesus put His fingers into the ears of the hearing-impaired person. The Pharisees and scribes had so twisted the teachings of the Old Testament scriptures and intermingled them with their own traditions. Their man-made doctrine amounted to a distraction from the truth; a constant countermeasure of Evil against what God wanted the people to hear. If we need to be touched by our Lord, then we should tune out the world! The man not only needed to hear right, he also needed to talk right. Finally Jesus touched the man's tongue with His own saliva. Now we know that saliva also contains an enzyme to convert starch to sugar. The man's speech was unclear because of his hearing impairment. Sometimes, our speech is too starchy and needs to have more sugar in it. Other people do not benefit from our harsh words, gossip, vulgarity, pessimistic speech, or unkind words.

The touch of our Lord's hand continues to transform our lives today. The growing awareness of the healing presence of Jesus in our lives may open our ears and loosen our tongues. The word of God, when heard and preached and acted on is like seed falling on good soil; it makes our lives fruitful.

May God bless us all.

Father Lawrence