Genesis 3:1-8 / Mark 7:31-37
A deaf person is not easily noticeable. He looks normal and even behaves normally. Until when someone speaks to him then will come the slow realisation that the person cannot understand what what was spoken because he cannot hear at all.
Though a deaf person may be able to see what is happening around him, he wouldn't be able to interpret what is the meaning of what is happening around him because he can't hear at all.
It is like watching a movie without the audio and without subtitles. We see a lot of images and people are talking but we won't understand what is happening.
That was the situation of the deaf man in the gospel passage. He would have missed Jesus if not for his relatives and friends who brought him to Jesus.
And even when he was brought before Jesus, he wouldn't know what was happening. Until when he saw Jesus put His fingers into his ears and touched his tongue with spittle.
Then he began to realise what was happening and that Jesus was healing him of his deafness and his speech impediment. And he was healed - he could hear as well as speak. So what is he going to hear from then on, and what is he going to speak?
Most of us can hear, we can speak, we can see. What do we hear, what do we speak, what do we see?
In the 1st reading, Eve listened to the devil's temptations when she should have listened to God's commandments? The likewise could be said of Adam. The result is the devastating consequence of sin.
So let us be careful in what we listen to and be careful in what we speak. Let us ask Jesus to open our ears to listen to His Word so as to be able to speak His Word to others.