September 5, 2021 (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)

“Be Opened!”

by Deacon John Kerrigan

Bill Campbell was a storied player in Silicon Valley. Beloved by many, he was also known for his bluntness during the years that he served as an executive coach for the CEOs of Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Tales about Campbell’s contrarian style continue to float around the Valley today, five years after his death. A couple of those stories have application to today’s scripture passages.

For many years, Bill Campbell coached the eighth-grade boys’ football team at nearby Sacred Heart Schools. He was as effective and as blunt with the 13-year-olds who made up the squad as he was with company CEOs.

Rumor has it that during one practice, in a huddle following a poorly executed play, Bill turned to one of the players and asked, “What’s this sound (“pop”)? The player’s response? “I don’t know, coach, what is it?” Bill’s reply, “It’s the sound of YOU, pulling your head out of your rear end! When are you going to start listening to me?” Now, we all realize that Campbell’s words were a bit more colorful than what I’ve recounted here. Of this much we can be sure, however: that young football player heard his coach’s instructions more attentively than ever.

In the tale about the miraculous cure of the man with hearing and speech impediments found in today’s gospel, the followers of Jesus, as well as his critics, were keenly aware of the deeper meaning to be found in the act of opening ears and loosening tongues. Both were acts of promise, of proclamation. As a consequence, Mark tells us that the astonishment of those who witnessed this miracle knew no bounds.

You and I, or people of any age, would usually find ourselves unprepared should the wonderful works of God touch us so closely. In today’s story, however, the gospel writer tells us that the onlookers responded with faith, not only because this particular man—someone whom they knew—was released to hear and proclaim. But also because those in the crowd itself found themselves hearing something new, something that led them to proclaim also.

And what was that something new? Jesus, through his words and actions, helped his followers to get their heads out of you-know-where. And what was it that they proclaimed? The last line of the gospel passage tells us that they echoed these words from the prophet Isaiah, “The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.”

Now, those words are found in that section of the Book of Isaiah that celebrates the action of God leading his people back home from exile in Babylon. And during that journey, he worked miracles on behalf of those most in need of them: the blind, the deaf, the lame. Jesus linked his healing actions to the hopes that the Hebrew people had for liberation. And by so doing, he demonstrated God’s loving care for the poor among them. And the response of his onlookers? Great satisfaction at witnessing the kingdom of God in action.

Finally, no book in the Christian Scriptures is more focused on our need to serve the poor than the Letter of James. The apostle tells us to “show no partiality” between rich and poor. Today we might well be advised to be equally vigilant that we exercise impartiality when faced with those with whom we agree and those with whom we do not.

Dr. Ellie Guardino, who for so many years shared life and faith with this community, lived by what was this principle: “Always assume positive intent,” she would say. Bill Campbell lived his life much the same, without partiality. New friends were made wherever he went. Often they were baristas, waiters, and, let’s face it, bartenders. He had friends in high and low places and everywhere in between. One of his close friends was a caddy whom he met on a golf course in Mexico many years ago. Indeed, at Bill’s funeral, who walked between Apple’s Tim Cook, and, “that guy whose name I forget, but they told me he runs Google”? None other than Bruno Fortozo, Bill’s golf guide.

The passage from James also emphasizes God’s preferential option for the poor. “Has not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom?” It was the poor of Jesus’ time who waited expectantly for the Messiah, not those who were in positions of power in church and society. They envisioned the Promised one to be a conquering king who would restore the fortunes of Israel. It was the poor who were able to recognize the Suffering Servant who came in his stead.

As we continue to celebrate today’s liturgy, let’s pray that we allow God to open our hearts and minds as he opened the eyes and ears of the man in Mark’s Gospel. To do so, we will have to put aside our prejudices, embrace our own poverty, and take up the challenge found in James’s Letter: Be doers of the word and not hearers only.