Deacon Tom
writes
www.deacontomwrites.com
“Ephphatha!”- “Be Opened!”
Jesus says two simple words to the deaf man and he is able
to hear. His life changed in an
instant. There is a newness to the
world he has been living in but in which he was not fully participating. In an instant he is complete, made
whole, reunited to his community from which he was isolated somewhat, and
ready, perhaps, to begin life anew.
There are many such events recorded in the gospels that
demonstrate Jesus had power over the natural world. He changed water into wine, walked on water, calmed the sea,
multiplied the loaves and fished. But Jesus’ greatest power lies in his power to heal as we
read in today’s gospel. And he uses
that power to set this man free from the loneliness and isolation that his
deafness has caused.
The words we hear in the gospel today are powerful, “Be
opened”. They challenge us to look
into our lives and find those attitudes and behaviors that stand in stark contrast
to the openness that God asks of us. Are we “open”
to forgive someone who has hurt us?
Are we “open” to letting go of
longstanding and often bitter resentments? Are we willing to change our bad behaviors
that find gossiping, criticizing, biased toward or thinking that we are better
than others?
When we are “opened”
to the Word of God, our lives change as, in today’s gospel, this man’s life was
changed. We don’t know the details
on what changed. We only know that
he and those who witnessed this amazing event were told not to tell anyone what
happened. Yet, they were
“astonished” and there was no way for them to keep this a secret. That’s because God never disappoints. There is nothing that we could ever do
that God in turn does not use for our good. That’s the deeper meaning of faith. That’s the “openness” that God longs
for so that he can fill us with every good thing in our time of need. Openness is our invitation to God to
come into our lives. Let’s spend
some time today getting ourselves ready for our Guest who is nearer to us than
we are ourselves.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
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