Daily Mass Readings – Sunday, 5 September 2027

4 Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you.

5 Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

6 Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness.

7 And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.

R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!

or

R. Alleluia.

7 Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered:

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

or

R. Alleluia.

8 The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just.

9 The Lord keepeth the strangers.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

or

R. Alleluia.

9 He will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy.

10 The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

or

R. Alleluia.

1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with respect of persons.

2 For if there shall come into your assembly a man having a golden ring, in fine apparel, and there shall come in also a poor man in mean attire,

3 And you have respect to him that is clothed with the fine apparel, and shall say to him: Sit thou here well; but say to the poor man: Stand thou there, or sit under my footstool:

4 Do you not judge within yourselves, and are become judges of unjust thoughts?

5 Hearken, my dearest brethren: hath not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him?

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

23 Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom and cured every disease among the people.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

31 And again going out of the coasts of Tyre, he came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

32 And they bring to him one deaf and dumb; and they besought him that he would lay his hand upon him.

33 And taking him from the multitude apart, he put his fingers into his ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue:

34 And looking up to heaven, he groaned, and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened.

35 And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right.

36 And he charged them that they should tell no man. But the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it.

37 And so much the more did they wonder, saying: He hath done all things well; he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Scripture presents a God who comes near to restore what has been wounded. The blind see, the deaf hear, the mute speak, and dry ground becomes a place of flowing water. In Jesus, this promise takes human form: He draws the deaf man away from the crowd, touches him, looks toward heaven, and says, “Be opened.” Christ’s healing is personal and attentive. He does not treat anyone as invisible or beyond hope.

The psalm shows where this saving work is directed: toward those who suffer wrong, the hungry, the imprisoned, the stranger, the widow, and the orphan. James makes the necessary consequence clear. A community that honors the well-dressed while humiliating the poor has closed its ears to God. Faith in Jesus must open our attention to people whom the world overlooks, and loosen our tongues to speak with justice and mercy. Christ still says, “Be opened”—opening our hearts to receive his grace and our lives to become a place where others can encounter his care.

Lord Jesus, open my ears to your word and to the needs of those who suffer. Free my tongue from silence when justice, kindness, or truth requires me to speak. Guard me from judging people by appearance, status, or possessions. Give me a heart that recognizes your presence in the poor, the forgotten, the stranger, and the vulnerable. Where my compassion has become dry, let your living water flow again. Make my words gentle and my actions faithful, so that through me someone may find welcome, dignity, and hope. Amen.