Effata….

Meditation on Monday, the 3rd week of Advent, year C2

This story from Mr 7, 31 – 37 about the release of a deaf-mute has a strong influence on us. Our imagination works and we see a man who, due to his disability at that time, was on the margins of life. He couldn’t hear and couldn’t speak. The Dekapol, or Dziesięćogród, is the equivalent of our Tri-City. It is true that these ten cities were not as close as Sopot, Gdynia and Gdańsk, but they formed such a peculiar cluster of cities connected with each other by various treaties. What they had in common were mainly Greek settlers who settled there, created a new culture in the Semitic world and created a world that was friendly to them. Some cities already existed and the Greeks inhabited them, and some built from scratch. Only Scythopolis was on the west side of the Jordan, the rest on the east side.

D about these cities we don’t hear much outside of Damascus, and the others seem to cease to exist. Jerash is Gerasa at that time, Beth’s Shean is an Israeli city that is the heir of Scythopolis, only archaeological sites remain after other cities outside Damascus. In this way, we notice that what was once great and full of light passes and does not matter, but the words of God in the Gospel are alive and the story of the deaf speaks to us all the time.

In the times described by the evangelists there was no social welfare system, the fate of each person depended on himself and his family, sometimes religious groups turned out to be supportive, as it is today. The Jews were to look after widows and orphans in particular. The Apostle Paul clarified the issue of widows, that they were to be women (who were in the Christian community) at least 60 years old, only married once, and that their lives were to be marked by good deeds towards believers. The younger ones, in his opinion, were to marry and give birth to children. So that they do not go around houses and do not take care of unnecessary things. The early Church as if continued the commandment of the Old Testament, but the deaf-mute were not there.

Such an affliction meant that also then, just like today, the world of such a person narrowed significantly. For obvious reasons, many people cannot communicate with each other. I remember that Norek lived in my home village. I think his name was Norbert, I’m not sure, but everyone called him Norek. He just was deaf. He was the eldest sibling and was part of our village community. He had loving parents, he was hardworking, and he was not really bothered by this condition. He worked as a farm worker in the nearby POM and helped his parents on the farm. He was passionate about football. As children, we were a bit afraid of him, because he made strange sounds, and when we did not understand him, he drew what he wanted to convey on the squeak and blinked his eyes significantly. He was actually a nice guy, though weird.

I wonder how the aforementioned Norek would behave if he regained his hearing and voice. He would probably be very happy, and in life he could find fulfillment, probably have a better job, maybe a wife, family. He was an old bachelor, none of the virgins wanted him, and he didn’t even seem to be looking for it. There was a lot of variety in this little village of ours. There were farmers, nurses, engineers, teachers, Staś without a leg and suffering from diabetes, deaf Norek, Andrzej suffering from epilepsy. In this small, maybe a hundred local community of people, where there was such a diversity, we learned to be accepted. In our village there was a POM (State Machinery Center) where, in addition to the normal work for POMs, major repairs of Jelcz cars were carried out. This dominated our village, it was busy, many people commuted to our village during the day, while in the evenings the village was again quiet and peaceful.

I think this diversity made no one (except a handful of bullying) thought of in any way persecuting those who were different. For me personally, I notice that such an upbringing in diversity gave me openness and even a desire to meet other, sometimes strange people. As we know, upbringing determines our life and I thank God for putting me there. One more thing about my village. I remember my parents (especially my mother) telling about young Jewish women who were sheltering themselves from the Germans during the war. In the end, as far as I can remember, they didn’t manage to escape before death, but I also remember how my mother’s eyes always filled with tears when she told this, she was so sorry that she couldn’t help being so pretty and young, and just for that, that they were Jewish, they had to die. Perhaps this empathy in my heart meant that I never suffered from anti-Semitism.

We don’t know what the fate was a deaf-mute from the biblical story, but he was probably not pink, the Lord knew his life, the Lord knew the problems that the deaf faced, maybe mocked, mocked, maybe often hungry, homeless only because he was disabled, other than everybody. He couldn’t express himself like the others. He couldn’t shout his opinion. His anger at various issues could be perceived as an attack by a madman. For who took the trouble to understand it? The Lord understood him, as we read, took him aside, which is important, because Jesus did not care about making a show, but he did care about this man. There, alone, on his belly, Jesus put his fingers in his ears, smeared his tongue with saliva, and it happened: the ears opened and the ties of his tongue were loosened. That man was healed or set free, given new life from Christ, a life of freedom.

Perhaps today when we pray for others, legalists would reproach us: “How can you stick your fingers in his ears, how can you spit in his eyes or drool his tongue ?!” However, Jesus did it, and it is described, and it is some kind of guideline for us, those who serve people, and we should do it for all who love the Lord with all their heart.

I imagine , how my childhood friend would jump for joy if someone made him talk and hear How much he would have to tell us! How colorfully would he describe the world and his experiences to us! But he did not meet anyone who was like Jesus. However, I believe that his life was successful anyway. Many people in such a state were doomed to poverty and loneliness.

“Open up” it is also a challenge for us, people who are sometimes deaf to God’s voice to us, to the voice that calls us to proclaim the Gospel, to live in God’s power, to go ever deeper into the presence of the Lord, to use His grace . How much are we interested in politics, economy, education and other areas of mortal life, and how little do we deal with the eternal? What will not pass away, because all these things on earth will pass away. Sure, God has given us reason and we should use it, and not allow, having learned from experience, the emergence of new monstrous ideologies killing human freedom. However, this should not be the most important thing, but concern for a man who is going to perdition, because he is deaf to God’s voice, because he is mute, who cannot speak God’s words, but only words of anger and self-exaltation.

Finally, going to the Christ’s stable , we meet Jesus, who also does not speak, because he is a baby, and infants do not speak with intelligible words to others, although loving parents understand them perfectly. This Jesus wants to be born in you with all his heart, so that, by growing in you and in me, he may turn you from a deaf-mute before God to the one who hears and speaks in the name of the Lord. The one who brings words of life, encouragement, and encouragement, not curses, anger and division. Beloved, let us open our hearts to the Lord, let His Holy Spirit begin His work in us. May His shalom embrace not only us, but all those whom the Lord in His grace places on our way.

Beloved, may the God of peace who desires your words and desires you to hear Him, hold you to His heart.

Yours in Mr. Kazik J.

Retreat Considerations

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