Angelus of the Pope. There is an inner deafness worse than physical deafness: that of the heart

“Jesus is the Word: if we do not stop to listen to him, he passes. But if we devote time to the Gospel, we will find a secret for our spiritual health ”. These are the words of Pope Francis who, like every Sunday, leaned out of the window of the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican to recite the prayer of the Marian Angelus with the faithful. Commenting on the Gospel of the day (Mk 7, 31-37), which presents on the 23rd Sunday in ordinary time Jesus who works for the healing of a deaf-mute, the Holy Father encouraged on this day, for our spiritual health , devote more time to the Gospel: every day a little silence and listening, – he said – a few less useless words and even more Words of God. But, in addition, referring to our family life as an example, he invited us to look at the moments when “people speak without first listening, always repeating their own refrains”. And he said that the rebirth of a dialogue often does not come from words, but from silence, from not being obsessed, from starting again with patience to listen to the other, his anxieties, what he carries within him. . “Healing the heart – he said – begins with listening.

Open up!

What is striking in history – the Pope began by saying – is the way in which the Lord accomplishes this prodigious sign: he takes the deaf-mute aside, puts his fingers in his ears and touches his tongue with saliva, then he rolls his eyes, sighs and says: “Efatá”, that is to say “Open up! (cf. v. 34) ”.

In other cures for equally serious illnesses, such as paralysis or leprosy, Jesus does not do as many gestures. Why is he doing all this now, when he has only been asked to lay hands on the sick (cf. v. 32)? Why is he making this gesture? Perhaps because this person’s condition has special symbolic value and has something to tell all of us. What is it about? It is deafness. The man couldn’t speak because he couldn’t hear. In fact, Jesus, to cure the cause of his discomfort, first puts his fingers in his ears.

Listen first, then answer

“We all have ears, but often we can’t hear,” Francisco continued. In fact, there is inner deafness, which today we can ask Jesus to touch and heal. It is a deafness which “is worse than physical” because it is a “deafness of the heart”:

Caught in our haste, with a thousand things to say and do, we don’t find the time to stop and listen to whoever is speaking to us. We risk becoming impervious to everything and leaving no room for those who need to be heard: I am thinking of children, young people, old people, many who do not need so many words and sermons. , but to be heard. Let us ask ourselves: how is my listening going? Do I let myself be touched by people’s lives, do I know how to devote time to those who are close to me, to listen to it? It is for all of us, but in a special way, for the priests, the people: the priest must listen to the people, not rush. Listen and see how you can help them, but after you have listened. And all of us: listen first, then answer.

“Healing the heart begins with listening”

So, as we wrote in the introduction and repeated, the Holy Father invited us to reflect on family life: “how many times do you speak without first listening, repeating your own refrains always? same!

Unable to listen, we always say the same things, or we do not let the other finish speaking, to express themselves, and we interrupt them. The rebirth of a dialogue often does not come from words, but from silence, from not being obsessed, from beginning again with patience to listen to the other, his anxieties, what he carries within him. Healing the heart begins with listening. Listen. And that heals the heart. “But, father, there are boring people who always say the same things” Listen to him! And then when he’s finished speaking; say your word, but listen to everything.

Do we remember to listen to the Lord?

“It is the same with the Lord,” continued Francis:

We would do well to flood you with requests, but we had better listen to you first. Jesus asks for it. In the gospel, when asked what the first commandment is, he answers, “Hear, Israel. Then add the first commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.” […] and your neighbor as yourself ”(Mk 12: 28-31). But first of all he said, “Listen to Israel,” listen. We are Christians, but perhaps among the thousands of words we hear every day, we do not find a few seconds to let a few words of the Gospel resonate within us. Jesus is the Word: if we do not stop to listen to him, he passes. If we don’t stop to listen to Jesus, skip him! Saint Augustine said: “I am afraid of the Lord when he passes by”, but the fear was that he would pass without listening to him.

The “secret” of our spiritual health

This is how the Bishop of Rome came to tell us the “secret” of our spiritual health, which we find “if we devote time to the Gospel”:

Here is the remedy: every day a little silence and listening, a few less unnecessary words and a few more words from God. Let us listen today, like the day of our baptism, to the words of Jesus: “Ephata, open yourself.” Jesus, I want to open myself to your Word, to open myself to listening. Heal my heart of closure and haste and impatience.

In conclusion, and before raising the Marian prayer to heaven, he asked “that the Virgin Mary, open to listening to the Word, who becomes flesh there, help us every day to listen to her Son in God. Gospel and our brothers with a docile heart, a patient heart and an attentive heart “.

Words of the Pope and greetings after the Angelus

After the Angelus, Francis first celebrated the beatification by Fray Mamerto Esquiú, yesterday, in Argentina. Immediately afterwards, he raised his prayers for the entire Afghan population: for those who remained, for those in transit and for those in the host countries. He also directed his gaze and prayer to the people of the United States of America affected by a severe hurricane in recent days. François then addressed his wishes to the Jewish community which will celebrate in a few days the Jewish New Year “Rosh Ha-Shanah”. Then he presented the pilgrimage to Hungary and Slovakia which will begin next Sunday on the occasion of the closing of the Eucharistic Congress which begins today in Budapest. In addition, in memory of the pontiff, Saint Teresa of Calcutta in her time and, finally, the blessing of the Legion of Mary, which today celebrates its centenary.