Gospel of Mark, chapter 7:37

In today’s Gospel lesson, a deaf mute, seeking a cure, is brought before Jesus. Jesus took the man aside, “Put His fingers into his ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then, looking up to Heaven, he said to him, “Ephphatha”; that is, “Be opened”, and his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened, and he spoke clearly. (MK. 7:33-35). Those who witnessed the healing miracle responded with “unbounded admiration,” Mark tells us. “He has done all things well,” they said, “He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak” (MK. 7-37).

Jesus is in our midst now seeking to cure our spiritual deafness and dumbness. He wants to open our ears to His good news of a loving God who is calling us into union with Himself in His life of love. He wants to loosen our tongues, enabling us to speak clearly the language of love in our dealings with all others.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if God decided to install an answering machine in heaven? Imagine praying to Him, here and now, and getting this response: “Thank you for calling our heavenly house. If you have a request, press four.”
What if you pressed one and heard God give this reply?: “All of our angels are busy helping other worshippers right now. Your call is important to us, so don’t hang up. Your call will be answered in “the order received.” or, “our hours are from nine to five week-days. Please call again during our regular hours.” But, that is not how God works.
We worship a God who answers all our calls personally: Day-and-Night, including weekends. His line is never busy! We worship a God who is present to us always; who wants to open our ears to His good news and who wants to loosen our tongues to share His word.

Are you prepared to open your ears to the word of God in Scripture, and to practice what you hear? Or, are you like those whom Jesus criticized as having ears, but hear not? Are you prepared to let the word of God influence your speech, thus drawing others to be influenced by the good news of the Gospel? The miracle of God’s presence among us is that He can open our ears and our minds to understand the good news daily, and loosen our tongues to inspire and uplift others.

Fr. Hugh Duffy