Blind people may not be able to see, but at least they can still communicate reasonably well with others. A person who is deaf, on the other hand, may experience much frustration and challenges, since such persons depend on sign language to communicate, and sometimes such sign language may be challenging to interpret. Moreover, a person who is deaf may attempt to speak, and what is spoken may be not so comprehensible, since the inability to hear also affects the diction. This may lead to feelings of insecurity and embarrassment for the deaf person, since communication is much harder compared to blind persons.
That is why, in today's Gospel, Jesus took the deaf man who had an impediment in his speech, aside in private, away from the crowd, so that the deaf man would feel less insecure and embarrassed with his condition. Also, Jesus touched his ears and his tongue, and looked up to heaven to
let the man feel and see that the healing powers were coming down from on high.
What can we learn from this? Quite often, we may have taken for granted the way we communicate, often using words. But the gospel account reminds us that in order to be understood, we must know what and how the other person can understand, and we must know how to use other forms of communication such as touch, body language and facial expression, to reach out to the other person. May we use our various senses wisely, so that the Good News could be effectively shared to all.
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