Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Healing the two blind and a dumb in Capernaum

The blindness of the blind - the image of the faith seeing beyond sight; the healing of the dumb from the possession of demon - proof of the divinity of Christ; the working priesthood of the Church is the priesthood of Christ.

“Today's Sunday refers to two miracles performed by the Savior, related in the evangelical pericope by St. Ev. Matthew: Healing two blind men and one dumb man. These miracles show the power of faith, manifest the divine authority of Christ and the priesthood of the Church as the priesthood of Christ - said HG Bishop Ioan Casian in his homily delivered on this occasion.

‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony’ says St. Paul in the Epistle in Hebrews 11:1-2. Faith is essential to the believer. For St. Paul and for the Christian faith, faith is not an abstract or obscure reality, an accidental opinion or a conjecture, a probable hypothesis or the result of a majority expressing itself on a certain problem or reality to define or decide its value. Faith is a certainty. It is a certainty that can be proved. It is a concrete reality whose results are tangible and can be proven. By faith the world was founded, by faith Abraham received the promise and followed the works of the faith with the other patriarchs; by faith Sarah bore a son; by faith Moses went out of Egypt and passed through the sea; the prophets and the righteous of the Old Testament ‘by faith, they overcame kings, they did justice, they obtained promises, they shut the mouths of lions ...’ (Hebrews 11, 33). The wonderful deeds of these people of faith were preceded by the faith they had in God's promise coming from His word. The method of verifying faith is its fulfillment. The word of God has been fulfilled and is always being fulfilled.

The example of the two blind men is for us a paradigm or an example of the man who has faith. Like the blind who did not see but sought Christ for healing by addressing Him as the ‘son of David’, that is, God's chosen one for our healing and salvation, so the faithful man believes in God and His word even if future results of this faith are not immediately apparent to him as the blinding healing of the two was not a present reality when they sought Christ. Man's faith contains already in itself, due to the presence of the word of God, the seed of things which will later happen at the time and the place where God deems it appropriate.

Faith is not an abstract theory, but a concrete reality whose results are palpable. For us Christians, God exists; He is a concrete reality even if unseen for many of us. For us, faith is a historical one. It is inspired by God and felt and proven historically for our edification as human beings.

In the case of the two blind men, Christ openly examines their faith: Do you think I can do this? We believe - they answer. He responds to them: According to your faith be it you! And their eyes opened. In the case of the two, Savior tries their faith and it is proved. The two heal from blindness. Although the Savior desires that the miracle not be made known, the joy, the overflow, the happiness springing from the recovery of the health and healing of the suffering of the two are too strong in their hearts not to overflow towards the others and to announce the miracle performed by Christ. Joy is generous because it shares in the generosity of God. Man, sharing his joy for the gift received from God, shares the gesture of generosity to which God first made him partaker. The popular saying ‘gift from gift made heaven’ renders quite well the meaning of the gift of fellowship from God to man.”

“The second moment present in today's biblical text is the healing of the dumb man who had a demon. The Savior heals him, said the Romanian hierarch of Canada. He receives the power of speaking again. The crowds are excited but also the envy of the Pharisees is manifested, the Savior being accused of healing through the power of the evil, the demons. By this accusation the Pharisees acknowledge the reality of the miracle that happened but try to challenge its origin or author. In the face of its evidence, they use several methods: the contestation, the contradiction with God's ordinance of the Old Testament, the questioning of the cause, the power or the authority with which Christ commits these. Christ, freeing the dumb from mutism and even from the influence of the evil, shows that He is master over the spirits in the air. The Pharisees' challenge to the power with which Christ performs the miracle is an indirect challenge to His divinity. In other words, if someone works, collaborates, or accomplishes miracles not with the power of God but under the influence or power of another, it implies that he is working with someone less than God, so it is an immanent work, possibly human.”

“‘We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up’ (Romans 15:1-2) reminds us St. Paul. The Christian, who is a man of God healed from unbelief and strengthened in Christ, is called to bear the infirmities and hardships of the world in which he lives. He is called to follow the example of Christ: ‘For even Christ did not please Himself but, as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me’ (Romans 15:3). Through conception and birth, Christ took upon Himself our sinful human nature to cleanse, correct, redeem, and transfigure it. The priesthood or the ministry of Christ is the one who performs all things. The Church, we as its members, receive this priesthood by virtue of which we perform the sanctifying works of God. The whole work is carried by Christ who makes us partakers of it.

Through Baptism we receive the universal priesthood, all together. By virtue of this priesthood, we can bear the weaknesses of this world healed from ignorance, doubt and darkness that come from unbelief. These are inadequacies, the fruit of the fragility of the man who lives far from God, having a sick imagination.

We are ‘co-responsible with Christ’ to the world in which we live insofar as He shares this responsibility with us. This responsibility is done in a spirit of humility but with boldness. Let us bring light, comfort, love, kindness where they are not present. Each generation over time has had the challenges of their society that they have had to face and find solutions.

Let us enjoy this period of the fast of the dormition of the Mother of God. Let us ask for the help and the protection of the Mother of God on the path we have to fulfill - concluded hierarch.”