Saturday 4 September 2021

23RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B

Isaiah 35:4-7
Psalm 146:7.8-10
James 2:1-5
Mark 7:31-37

EPHPHATHA: BE OPENED

Today’s readings present Jesus Christ as the one who came to liberate man, so as to enable him to live fully his relationship with God and with others. In the gospel, a deaf-mute man was brought to Jesus in the Decapolis, a pagan territory. Jesus took him aside and touched his ears and his tongue and then, looking up to heaven, he said: “Ephphatha” which means “be opened”. The man was healed: thanks to Jesus’ intervention, the deaf-mute “was opened”. He was closed, unable to communicate properly; but now, he can do so. This made great Jesus’ reputation among the people of the area: “He has done all things well” (Mark 7:31-37). 

The healing of this man echoes the prophetic words of Isaiah in the first reading: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed; then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy…” (Isaiah 35:4-7). The future promised by the prophet has now arrived. 

Though we may not be physically deaf and dumb, do we realize that we display deafness and dumbness in many life situations? Whenever we close our ears and hearts to the Word of God, we become spiritually deaf. When we fail to listen to the cries of the poor and the needy around us, or we are indifferent to the groaning of a suffering person, we become deaf. Whenever we fail to share our faith with others, or utter a word of comfort to someone in difficulty, we become spiritually dumb. We become dumb if we cannot proclaim the truth that liberates men, or speak out against the injustices, corruption, inequalities, favouritism and discriminations in society and in our churches, just as St James does in the second reading (James 2:1-5). 

Thus, we need the Ephphatha ritual just as it is exemplified in the Rite of Baptism, when the priest pronounces the same word, praying that the baptized may hear the Word of God and profess the faith in words and deeds. We therefore need to come to Jesus for healing. This way, we will be “opened” and enabled to proclaim the goodness and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, he who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen



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