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Working with the Word
23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Year B
September 5, 2021
Reading I: Isaiah 35:4-7a
Responsorial Psalm:: 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
Reading II: James 2:1-5
Gospel: Mark 7:31-37


Focusing the Gospel

Key words and phrases: Deaf, speech impediment, Be opened, deaf hear, mute speak

To the point: “Be opened!” Jesus commands the deaf-mute man as he heals him. This encounter, however, is more than a matter of physical healing. It is a sign of salvation: God's superabundant life breaking open the closed human condition. Further, what Jesus commands with respect to the deaf-mute man, he commands with respect to us. When we encounter Jesus, he commands, "Be opened!" and we too are healed: our ears are opened to hear the Good News and our tongues are loosened to proclaim it.

Connecting the Gospel …
… to the First Reading: Isaiah’s poetic vision presents a world redeemed by God's saving power. What Isaiah communicates through poetry, Jesus communicates through action.
… to experience: We tend to think of salvation in terms of heaven and the hereafter. The readings open us to salvation as encountering and hearing God now.
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Copyright 2014 by The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota.
All rights reserved.
Used by permission from Liturgical Press, St. Johns Abbey, P.O. Box 7500 Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500
Living Liturgy: Spirituality, Celebration, and Catechesis
for Sundays and Solemnities Year B - 2021.
Katy Beedle Rice, Orin E. Johnson, and Verna Holyhead, SGS.

Living Liturgy 2011

Liturgical Press

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For more information about Living Liturgy 2021 click picture above.
Art by Martin Erspamer, OSB
from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A, B, and C).
This art may be reproduced only by parishes who purchase the collection in book or CD-ROM form. For more information go http://www.ltp.org
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