A DEAF KID NAME TOMMY
INTRODUCTION
The title of my story for today is, “A Deaf Kid Named
Tommy.”
In today’s gospel - for this 23 Sunday in Ordinary Time [B] we have the story of a deaf man. We
don’t know his name. [Cf. Mark 7: 31-37.]
Jesus is traveling in an area below the Sea of Galilee - to
the east of the Jordan River - in an
area called “The Ten Cities” - the Decapolis. A group of people bring to Jesus a deaf man who has a speech
impediment. They beg Jesus put his hand on the man and heal him.
We find several stories like this in the gospels. People
beg Jesus to heal daughters, sons, friends or servants.
In this story Jesus takes the deaf man away from the
crowd. Maybe the theatrics and the drama that happens with these healings gets
to him. He puts his finger into the man’s ears and spitting touches the man’s
tongue and looks up to heaven and groans, “Ephphatha” - the Aramaic words
for “Be opened.”
And immediately - according to the gospel of Mark - the
man’s ears are opened and his speech impediment was removed.
The man began to speak plainly.
At that Jesus ordered than nobody say anything about all
this - but the more he tried to calm everyone down - and be quiet, they were
screaming - “It’s amazing!” “It’s a miracle!”
“It’s a healing!”
The title of my story for today is, “A Deaf Kid Named
Tommy.”
This is a true story. I was there. I saw it. This
happened around 1990 in upstate New
York.
Let me introduce the characters in the story and the
setting of this story.
THE SCENE AND THE SETTING
The scene is outdoors - late September - and it’s warm.
There is a big building - 4 stories high. It’s a big
retreat house - a former seminary building where I went to school. Now I was
back there again. It’s also place for our novices - young men becoming
Redemptorists. But it’s mainly a big retreat house.
It has a kitchen in the basement. There is no air
conditioning down there. The windows are open - with bars on the windows. It’s
a warm day.
It’s after lunch and there is group of junior high school
kids from an all girl’s high school making a 3 day retreat.
TEDDY
The first character in my story that I want to introduce
is an old priest - around 85 years of age.
His name is Francis - but we called him “Teddy.”
He had buck teeth all his life and Teddy Roosevelt was
famous for his big teeth, so Father Teddy got the nick name “Teddy.”
He’s raking the lawn - from weeds he whacked.
Teddy is quite deaf - but he had hearing aids - but often
didn’t use them.
Teddy had a great personality - warm - friendly. If he
was an American Indian he’d be called, “Great Heart.”
I was talking with Father Ronny Bonneau today at lunch -
telling him I was going to tell this story today for my homily and he said, he
was walking down the corridor of this retreat house and Teddy is looking out
the window and says to Ronnie, “Look at Molly down there.” Molly was a beautiful retriever dog. “Look at
him waving his tail.” Then he said, “Too bad we humans lost our tails. It’s a
great way to know if someone is very happy.”
I told him a similar story. I was walking down the 2nd
corridor and there was Teddy trying to get a bee into a glass near the window. I asked him what he was
doing.
He said he was trying to get the bee into the glass so he
could bring him across the corridor - and into his room and let him out on the
other side of the building - so he doesn’t have to climb up to top of the 4th
floor and then down the other side.
So that’s Teddy.
TOMMY AND DANNY
The next two characters are Tommy and Danny - brothers.
They were the dish washers in that basement kitchen.
Tommy was stone deaf - totally deaf - from his babyhood.
Danny was not.
Tommy was the noisiest dish washer in the history of
dishwashing.
He would slam - bang trays of dishes on the stainless
steel tables that were part of the dishwashing section of the dining room.
And when the windows were opened you could hear his
grunts as well as dish racks slams on the stainless steel tables.
Danny was more carefully and totally non noisy as he was
doing dishes with Tommy.
THE CROWD - THE OTHERS
Every story - well not every story - but stories usually
have the crowd or the others.
After lunch the two cooks, waiters and waitresses, and
Tommy and Danny would take a break after some of the work was done. If the
weather was nice - this break would take place in the shade at some benches and
picnic tables across from the door up out of the kitchen.
THE STORY
Well this day I’m sitting there with some of the kitchen
staff chatting.
The high school girls came out of the building and
hearing the noise in the kitchen from Tommy - they were looking through the
bars - the windows - down into the kitchen. I’m seeing all of this. We’re
seeing all of this. We hear the girls call other girls to check out this guy in
the kitchen doing dishes. They are pointing at Danny. The cook says, “I betcha
that Tommy thinks they are looking at him.”
Then the girls in a large group head down to the river.
15 minutes later, we’re still breaking, Tommy and Danny
come up out of the kitchen for a break as well.
Danny joins us.
We’re kidding him about the girls checking him out.
Tommy is 30 feet away - by himself - looking lonely and
lost - a normal look for him. He’s leaning against a tree. Just then the girls
come back - from the river and spot Danny and run towards him.
He blushes.
None run towards Tommy.
He tightens his fish and bangs it against his stomach -
just below his heart.
The nun and a couple of adult chaperons tell the girls,
“We have to get back to the retreat.”
I spot Tommy crying.
I spot Teddy raking leaves.
I go over to Teddy to tell him about Tommy. He adjusts
his hearing aid.
I had seen Tommy and Teddy greeting each other after
meals - and somehow communicating. Deaf to deaf. Smile to smile.
So Teddy goes over to Tommy - who is still all alone
- to console him and he hears Tommy say
- with deep loud grunts, “Unfair.
Unfair. Unfair.”
Teddy gives him a hug and I see him crying on this old
priest’s shoulder.
CONCLUSION
Years later I heard that Tommy got one of those machines
that has wires that go into the skull and a person can learn to hear 16 sounds
- that can help a person learn more words - and less grunts - more words that
“Unfair. Unfair. Unfair.”
