Be Opened "Ephphatha"
Our actions as parents affect our children's life and their future. Even after God had appeared to Solomon twice, warning him not to follow strange gods, Solomon never heeded to God and never followed in the footsteps of David his father. After following strange gods with his wives, God was to punish his son by stripping away from him part of the kingdom, leaving him a small portion just because God's servant David and His chosen city Jerusalem. Today, this tragic division of the kingdom of David and Solomon was foretold by the prophet Ahijah in the First Reading.
When Ahijah encountered Jeroboam on the road, he tore his garment into twelve pieces and gave ten of them to Jeroboam, who was the officer in charge of forced labor in Solomon’s kingdom (1 Kings 11:28). This prophetic action foretold the day when Jeroboam would lead the ten northern tribes into rebellion and establish them as the Kingdom of Israel. When Solomon heard Ahijah’s prophecy, he sought to kill Jeroboam, and this forced Jeroboam to flee to Egypt in exile until the death of Solomon in 930 B.C. After the death of Solomon, the twelve tribes of Israel gathered in Shechem to ask King Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, to decrease their taxes and forced labor. When Rehoboam refused, the ten northern tribes revolted and chose Jeroboam, recently returned from exile in Egypt, as their new king. This rebellion split the kingdom of David into two kingdoms – the Kingdom of Israel in the north led by Jeroboam and the Kingdom of Judah in the south led by Rehoboam.
In contrast to the wicked Jeroboam, who led the northern tribes of Israel into idolatry, Jesus sought to bring the lost tribes of Israel, who were scattered among the Gentile nations, back to the worship of the one true Lord God. From yesterday’s Gospel Mark starts writing for the gentiles, with an intention of teaching us that salvation is universal; Jesus not only came for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. Mark uses many literary forms to show that he is writing to the Gentiles which includes explanation of many of Jewish customs in his Gospel and also maintaining the Aramaic words, the original language of Jesus, and then explaining them for the audience to understand them. If he was writing to the Jews alone, he would not really need to explain these customs and Aramaic words. Today’s gospel about the healing a dumb and a deaf man, Mark uses an Aramaic word, “Ephphatha!” which means, “Be opened!” Let us always thank our Lord for bringing us the good news even though we were not among the chosen race.
Jesus goes to the Decapolis, meaning ‘ten cities’ where he met a deaf and mute man. The people asked Jesus to ‘lay his hand upon him’, that is the traditional way of invoking the power of God. Jesus, nonetheless, took the man aside, “put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle, then, looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, ‘Be opened’. The dumb man’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosened and he began to speak clearly. Joyously, the people spread the news, even when Jesus forbade them. The fact is that it is difficult to withhold good news.
Brethren, Jesus also always desires to tell us “Ephphatha,” when we come to him in faith. Obviously, as this man’s ears and eyes were closed, we all have some parts of ourselves whether spiritual or physical, which Jesus wants to open in our lives; do we come to him with great faith so that he can open us? Today let us examine our lives, what in our life needs to be opened? There are many ways that our soul can be closed: by anger or bitterness that I cling to, some lack of trust in God that leaves me anxious, or unforgiveness in a relationship. But when we sense a lack of peace interiorly, we don’t need to resolve it alone; we don’t need to be discouraged about not being perfect. We just need to be before Christ as we really are and let him into the area that is closed. We need to exercise enough trust to let go and invite him in.
Jesus’ activity as he goes around ‘doing all things well’ is the coming of God into the world, the Day of the Lord when the tongues of the dumb will sing for joy. Jesus is the sacrament of God, a promise of God to heal and forgive sins brought into the world by disobedience of one man. In him God is active in the world, bringing peace, healing and joy. In him people met and experienced God. His gestures of putting his fingers into the man’s ears and touching his tongue with spittle are affectionate ways of showing that God is physically at work in him. He needs to extend this mercy and affectionate love of God into our lives, into our darkest parts of our lives and the closed, he wants to open them, though not physically touching us but through his ministers and the sacraments. Invite him now to open not only your closed parts of your soul but also the closed blessings, chances, miracles and all of your unanswered prayers.
His fingers are still at work in the world. Gregory the Great, a church father from the 6th century, comments on this miracle: "The Spirit is called the finger of God. When the Lord puts his fingers into the ears of the deaf mute, he was opening the soul of man to faith through the gifts of the Holy Spirit." The Lord treats each of us with kindness and compassion, opens all of our closed parts of our lives, and he calls us to treat one another in a like manner. The Holy Spirit who dwells within us enables us to love as Jesus loves. Do you show kindness and compassion to your neighbours and do you treat them with considerateness as Jesus did?
Let us Pray.
Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and inflame my heart with love and compassion. Make me attentive to the needs of others so that I may show them kindness and care. Make me an instrument of your mercy and peace that I may help others find healing and wholeness in you. Amen
Be blessed.
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