Sparkles of Light (Mk 7:31-37)

10 February 2012, Friday, 5^th Week of the Year

 BE OPENED

Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!") And immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

Mk 7:31-37

            The Gospel for today seems to be detailed and perhaps unpleasant on the way how Jesus healed the deaf man.  “He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’”  Then the man could hear and there was no problem with his speech.  But why did Jesus heal in this manner?  For me, Jesus was communicating with a deaf man who is brought to him.  So in a sense, he uses sign language to get his message across to the man before he heals him.  But in so doing, and then in actually healing the man, Jesus is also sending a message to us – that we must be opened to God’s signs in our life so that we may be able to see, hear, feel, even smell and taste God’s presence.  How shall we read the signs?  Let our Gospel story tell us how.

                The first thing Jesus does is to take the man off to the side, apart from the midst of the crowd. Jesus wants his full attention, no distractions.  If we want to know God’s desire for us, we must take time to quiet ourselves and focus our reflection and prayer on God, no distractions.  Jesus then puts his fingers into the man’s ears to signal the man that it is his deaf ears that Jesus is going to heal.  If we quiet ourselves, with no distractions, perhaps we might also feel Jesus’ finger into our ears telling us to listen intently to him.

The next thing Jesus does, though it may sound strange, is to spit at the man.  Though it didn’t say where Jesus spat on – could be onto the ground or could be on his own fingers or anywhere.  Perhaps the point for spitting, though how gross it may seem, makes the man feel in a sense alive and alert, that Jesus was with him.  In our lives, God will reveal himself to as a surprise, in the most unexpected and lease moment.  Jesus then touched the man’s tongue to show that he will take away the impediment from speaking clearly.  Not only will that, but the power to heal come from Jesus.  Whatever pain we have in our lives, we must offer it to the Lord and have faith that Jesus will take away our pain, in his time.

Jesus then looks up to heaven because he wants the man to look to God in faith for this blessing. And he wants the man to make the connection, that the power Jesus is going to use to heal him comes from God, comes from heaven. Even more so, that Jesus himself comes from God has come down from heaven. That is the goal of this healing: to recognize something about Jesus, that he is the divine, heaven-sent man of mercy, sent to heal all our ills.  Just like the deaf man, Jesus is inviting us to lay our needs before God in an attitude of supplication and prayer.  We come before God with all our hurts, all our ailments and afflictions, all our sins and sorrows, our frustration and our exhaustion, and we lay that bag of misery before God with the sigh of faith. And we say to him, “Lord, have mercy.”  In his rich mercy, our heavenly Father hears our sighs and supplications, and he answers in the way that is best for us.

And finally, after doing all these gestures and actions to the deaf man, Jesus is ready to speak with one powerful word -- “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened.” “And the deaf man was healed.  Thus, when Jesus speaks, things happen. His words are powerful and active, accomplishing the purpose for which he speaks.  Have faith in Jesus and be opened.  We have just seen the signs of Jesus for the deaf man.  God is inviting us to see, hear, feel, even smell and taste God’s presence because he is always with us.

St. Scholastica, pray for us.