Jesus came to make us whole, in body, mind and spirit. In today's Gospel, a deaf and dumb man is healed and proceeds to use his new-found gift of speech to proclaim the wonders and goodness of God.

In contrast, the spiritual deafness of Soloman led to the division of the land of Israel symbolized by the tearing and distribution of Ahijah's new cloak.

The Lord wants us to have ears that really hear His word and minds that act accordingly always. What of our present day society? Is it not true that there is a tendency to hear only the promptings of our own self-interest rather than that of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us? And as a consequence are we not blocking out the cries and woes of our suffering brothers and sisters around us?

The Lord wants to heal us of our spiritual deafness so that we can really hear His Word as He speaks through the Scriptures, the events in our lives, our experiences, our encounters with others, the signs of the times . . . hearing His Word and acting on it, we will then, like the healed man in the Gospel, be able to proclaim God's goodness and love to others.