The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Sunday morning, September 8, at St. Augustine
My dear sisters and brothers in the Lord,
I’m sure in our travels, we have often heard an exasperated mother or father turn to his or her child and say, Are you listening to me? Growing up, I heard that many times from my mother. In her less delicate moments, she would add by saying, Are you deaf? Now, of course, my mother knew I wasn’t physically deaf, but she also knew I was not listening for a lot of reasons. Growing up, myself, and I guess a lot of young people, but myself in particular, I was lost in my own world and my own thoughts, preoccupied with what I was interested in. Quite frankly, sometimes I knew that what my mother was going to tell me, I did not want to hear, and so I simply did not listen. And you could imagine the consequences. We won’t talk about those in church. It’s interesting the importance of listening. Today in the gospel, we hear of a miracle that the Lord performed to a man who was physically deaf. And interestingly, when the Lord, through the agency of His own body, He literally was touching him with spittle. What happens?
He hears for the first time. And what does he hear is the key. He hears a single word from the mouth of the one who is the word of God. You see, my friends, that is the point. You and I know that Jesus performed miracles as signs of the kingdom. They benefited the individual who may have been healed, but it was also as a sign and a lesson for everyone else. Jesus, in his many miracles, was teaching us that there is a life to come where the deaf will hear and the blind will see, that the lame will walk and those who have their hearts broken will sing and rejoice. A life where there would be no suffering and pain, a life of perfect glory, a life that He won for us in His death and resurrection that we will celebrate here in just a few moments in the sacred Eucharist. For the man to be healed of deafness, the very first thing he heard was the most important in his life. For the first time he was able to listen to the words of God. Allow me to ask you, how deaf are you and I to the words of God?
Do we listen? And not just listen like a little child, Yeah, I’m listening. I heard you. But listen in such a way that the word of God penetrates our mind, pierces our heart, convicts our behavior. We allow the word of God to transform us and to challenge us and to change us. It’s like planting a seed. Do we allow the word of God to be planted as a seed in our hearts so that it could grow as the days and weeks go by? And the Lord continues to speak to us in the quiet of our hearts as to what it is that His will be for you or me and what he expects of you and me. The word of God is living. It is Christ’s presence. Forgive me for asking this question, but even when the readings were complained today, were you listening? Was I listening? Was I really listening? Was I really listening to allow that word to dwell in my heart well beyond the ending of this sacred celebration? And if we were not, and if we do not as well as we can, this week, I’m going to ask you, my friends, to take some time in your life, as I will in mine, and ask the reason why.
Why do I not take the time to listen and pray over the word of God? Why, when it is claimed, do I not, in fact, allow it to be planted in my heart as a seed to grow? What is it in your life and mind that are the impediments? Perhaps it’s fear, perhaps it’s anxiety. Forgive me, perhaps it’s laziness. Perhaps the choices you and I make are not the right choices in the way we use our time. We are all busy. But who is so busy that they would not invite Jesus to come to their table and sit with us in his Holy word of God? My friends, you and I are working on the renewal of the whole church, and that renewal is not possible unless you and I break open the power and grace that comes from the words spoken by God himself. First in ourselves, then amongst ourselves. It was interesting when I was chatting with the deacons in the sacracy. Today is September eighth, is it not? Today is the birthday of Mary. If our math is correct, our lady is 2,040 years old today. Does she look great for that?
If there ever was a person who listened to the word of God, it was our lady. Her whole life, from when she over the words of the prophets and the law. When she dwelled in the deepest part of her heart to find the will of God, when the angel Gabriel came, she knew the answer was yes. And to have the privilege to hear the word spoken by the word of God who was her Son as a little boy, as a teenager, as the itinerant preacher who is our savior and redeemer. And what is the scripture says? She treasured all of it in her heart. Can we dare to believe that you and I can do the same thing? For there will come a day when you and I are standing before God Himself, and he will ask you and He will ask me, Were you listening to Me? And on that day, what shall we say?
