Gospel-Homily for Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (2024)

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Play the Hand You Were Given.

After a long day of meetings at a convention, we decided to have a poker tournament in the evening. We passed out the chips, and we sat at tables of five. In the end, only two players were left with chips, and I was one of them. So, let me tell you how I made it to the final round. After they dealt the cards, I would pick up my hand and see I had a two, a five, a seven, and a jack–no matches and different suits.” With each hand I picked up, my first thought was: why do I always get such awful cards? Still, I made it to the final round. That is the beauty of poker. It does not matter what you were dealt in your hand; it is how you play your hand. As the song says, “Know when to hold’m, and know when to fold’m.”

A deaf and mute man is certainly dealt a difficult hand. He can never hear about Jesus and His works of healing. Even if he did, he could not ask for healing. But maybe someone could be his ears and his voice. And the Gospel tells us that there is a voice for that will speak for him. However, it is not a single person but an entire village. Everyone in the town gave the man their ears and voice: the fire department, the police department, the teachers’ union, the baker and the barber, the chef at his favorite restaurant, and the mailman. They all approached Jesus and asked Him to lay His hand on the man. So Jesus took him away from the crowd so the people would not know what happened. After the deaf man was cured, Jesus sent him back to his village. I can see the man standing in front of the large crowd. You could hear a pin drop, and all eyes were on the man, wondering what had happened between the encounters with Jesus. The man cleared his voice, opened his mouth, and announced, “Hey guys, I can hear you now.” For the first time in his life, he heard what a crowd sounds like when they erupt in deafening cheers. He heard what it was like to receive a standing ovation. And he deserved it because he did something no mute person was able to do: “he spoke plainly.” After the last tear of joy was wiped away and the last congratulatory pat on the back was given, the man went home, opened the door, and his wife hugged him. And for the first time in his life, he heard the words: “I love you.” Then he went into the living room and put his little daughter’s hair up in braids as he always did, but this time he heard for the first time in his life “giggles.” He would walk out the door, and people would point to him, saying, “He is the reason why I believe.” “He is the reason I have hope.” “He is the reason why I keep trying in difficult times.” “He is the one who inspires me.” Two thousand years later, he is still inspiring. He has given more inspiration than great rulers and famous authors.

If the deaf man in the Gospel could give us some words of wisdom, he would leave us with this message: “God could have dealt me a better hand in life. He could have given me a great education or a good paying job with some financial security. He could have given me a set of ears that hear and a voice but He did not. But what he did give me was a whole village of people who have ears that hear and mouths with voices. So I gave these people a reason to like me, a reason to want to help me, a reason be my voice, and a reason to bring me to Christ.”

Whatever cards that you were dealt in life are the ones you are supposed to have because they are the ones that will give you the greatest and most fulfilled life. Like poker, you just play the hand.