If we could condense everything about the Christian Experience...things like Sunday Mass…daily prayer…the study of scripture…acts of charity…evangelization of society…catechesis for our kids…community building here in our parish…if we could condense all these things down into one nugget…one focused point of what this is all about I think it could be this…the Human Person’s attempt to return to the garden. No matter what we do as our “ministry”…no matter how we pray or how much we pray or what we pray…no matter if we’re married…single…divorced…priests or nuns…all of this Church stuff is really about trying to get back to the garden…before we took the fruit of the tree that He asked us not to take. That’s it…that’s all we’re trying to do here coming to mass…praying to God in the privacy of our hearts and in community with each other…functioning and dysfunctioning our way through life…all we’re trying to do is get back to the garden. And it’s exactly what this Gospel is about…the story of Jesus healing the deaf man.

So before I even go into this healing or any of other healings we read from scripture…we have to understand the purpose of the Garden. Whether there was actually a Garden of Eden or not isn’t important…by the way it’s never been proven that there wasn’t a Garden of Eden. So whether it’s fact or myth one thing is indisputable - there was a time when God created us…it was the time before sin entered the equation. And in bible talk we call this the Garden of Eden.

Think about the garden…it was the one time in human history when we were just as God created us to be. Perfect…in His own image and likeness…a privilege only granted to us humans by the way…not giraffes…not grey whales…not bald eagles…not caterpillars…not your dog or your cat. Humans were the only ones created in His image. So if we can tap into our religious imagination for a moment we can begin to make some distinctions about this period of human history…the time back in the garden.

It’s pretty clear to me that there are some things that exist today that couldn’t have possibly existed in the Garden of Eden. Restlessness…Fear…Anxiety…arguably the most pressing spiritual issues of the human heart today didn’t exist back in the garden. Doubt never existed in the garden. All of the other dysfunctions of the human condition/either…backstabbing…jealousy…anger…racism…sexism…addictions…none of these realities of our time existed once upon a time.

And beyond these challenges there weren’t any of the much larger calamities that beset our world today either…there were no hurricanes in the Garden…no earthquakes…no floods…no tsunamis…there was no cancer…there were no drug cartels…no totalitarian regimes…no genocide…no wars…no abortions-no executions on death row…and there was no leprosy…no crippled people…no blindness…no deafness or speech impediments either. The Garden was completely ordered. It was created out of chaos and it was perfect…in theology we call this our original state of grace and perfection. All of the unfortunate realities of our time exist today as a result of that day when we took of the tree that we were asked not to. And that’s where we pick up with this deaf man who couldn’t speak. It’s where we pick up all of the healing stories of Jesus in the gospels because this is the point of the human story where the need for healing begins.

If we look at all of the healings that Jesus ever performed…the 10 lepers…Simon’s mother…the paralytic dropped down through the thatched roof that day in Capernaum…this deaf man today with the speech impediment…every single one of these healings has to do with the human person’s need to get back into the garden. What Jesus did for people physically did way more for them spiritually. What he did for them was to return them back to the Garden. Take the famous healing of the 10 lepers for example. Jesus heals them and then sends them to the temple and tells them to show themselves to the high priests. In Jewish custom of the time a leper was not only physically distorted…but he was…maybe more painfully…spiritually and socially distorted…he was ineligible to participate in virtually every aspect of society and most tragically the worship of God in the Temple because he was unclean. So when Jesus heals the leper…he physically fixes his infirmities…but way more importantly he returns him to his rightful place in the community…and at an even deeper level…he returns him back to the Garden where there was no such thing as leprosy.

Our deaf friend from today’s gospel…Jesus cured his physical distortions…made him whole again physically. But what he did for him spiritually is the real story. Because of his deafness he couldn’t communicate with others…he couldn’t hear the Word of God…he couldn’t express his feelings or his needs…he couldn’t tell them his story. Telling each other our stories makes us human. Those giraffes and grey whales and bald eagles and caterpillars…your dogs and cats…despite their magnificence…they don’t share with each other the stories of their lives…we do that. That’s why parents make such a big deal when their three year old begins to talk and express his or her humanness for the first time. The human person…spoken into existence by the Word…destined to be divinized with God in heaven forever…by his or her very nature strings words together to find meaning in life. Think of those most human of days - Baptisms…1^stCommunions…Weddings…Anniversaries…Graduations…Birthdays…Thanksgiving…Christmas. When important events occur we stop and we sit down and eat a meal and talk…we tell each other our stories and we listen to each other’s stories. Jesus knew this and so when he heals this deaf man…when he makes him to speak again and hear again…yes he’s helping him so that he can go about the practical business of life…but more profoundly he’s returning him to the garden…he’s making him perfect again…he’s re-creating him.

Now when’s the last time you’ve seen me spit on the ground or put my fingers into someone’s ears and onto someone’s tongue? I can’t remember the last time ten lepers have walked down this aisle to be healed. And it’s not like the roof opens up every Sunday and a paralytic is lowered down for healing. It’ doesn’t happen that way at all. Priests don’t heal…Jesus heals…priests can’t return us back to the garden…Jesus returns us back to the garden…priests don’t fix the disasters of our lives…Jesus does in the person of the priest. I say this all the time to people in confession…when we receive absolution for our sins and walk out that confessional door we are…for at least a few minutes…transported back to that original state of grace and perfection in the garden…the way we were in the beginning. Before that confession…sitting out in the waiting area of the narthex…we aren’t completely ourselves…we’re a distortion of ourselves. I can remember visiting with a friend once who was really struggling with a particular sin and the most profound statement he made was…I don’t even know who I am any more. When we re-acquaint ourselves with ourselves in the Sacrament of Confession we come here to complete the return to the garden in the encounter with our very origin…the Word that spoke into existence all that is good and true about ourselves and the world. It’s interesting…how did Jesus heal the deaf man…he touched him in a mysterious…maybe even bizarre way to onlookers and non-believers…but it was very personal…he put his fingers in his ears and he touched his tongue. That’s what happens right here…in ten minutes Jesus is going to touch your tongue…literally. He’s already touched your ears by his Word. And if you’re ready and willing he will return you to the garden and re-introduce you to your truest self.