Today’s gospel is one that I enjoy putting myself into because it has many layers that range from humorous to very deep and I think that is pretty much how my personal spirituality works as well. One minute I’m in an I Love Lucy episode and the next I’m having a miraculous breakthrough, which sums up today’s gospel. The people brought a deaf man with a speech impediment and begged Jesus to lay hands on him for healing. The first thing Jesus does is take him away from the crowd. This speaks volumes to my heart right off the bat, because it seemed that Jesus wanted a close personal encounter with this man, and not to do some big show for the crowd. Perhaps he sensed the man’s trepidation, or that the man felt like he was being used as a trick pony, or that his disability was being exploited. Whatever the motivation, Jesus wanted to minister to him one on one and did not ever want to humiliate this man. If we look at the deeper side of things, Jesus opens our ears to hear him when we spend quiet time with just him. And now the story gets a bit humorous if you ask me because Jesus proceeds to wet willy the deaf man. It just feels a bit like a Monte Python scene and I wonder if the deaf man laughed because I would have. The point is that Jesus touched him where he was afflicted and that place of shame and anguish and loathing and humiliation became the very place where God entered and healed. He wants to come in through our deepest wounds so that those wounds no longer have power over us, but are the very thing that brought us to Jesus in the first place. This is something that I have been struggling to understand in my own life, but it is exactly where he wants to meet us. He didn’t come to be a light in the world to illuminate our shiny gifted and healthy selves, he came to dispel the dark parts, to heal the unhealthy parts, and to free the parts that are in bondage.
Then Jesus looked to heaven and said, “Be opened.” Actually, it said that he groaned. Have you ever groaned in prayer? I have. It’s the kind of pleading that comes from a place of desperation, being at the end of your rope, and begging for freedom. Jesus knew this man’s heart and did the pleading for him! Jesus knows our hearts and did the pleading for us on the cross when he said, “It is finished.” Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his speech impediment removed. When we meet Jesus in our affliction, he wants our relief to be immediate. His grace is enough. In our knowing that, we too will become immediately opened. He told the deaf man to not tell anyone about it. Are you kidding me Jesus? I’ve had a speech impediment my whole life and you expect me NOT to tell people about it?? And that’s just it. The man simply has to show his healing. When they hear him speak, they will know. When he hears them speak, they will know. So many times we think that conversion must be this public display complete with confessing all before the world, however, Jesus would rather us show our freedom by loving others, passing on the compassion that has been offered us, and being merciful. He never wants to humiliate us, only to liberate us from the shame. When we have breakthrough, let that breakthrough show through our lives.
Jesus wants us to be opened and for our impediments to be removed. Jesus wants to minister to us one on one so that we can hear him in the whispers and know him apart from the crowds. Jesus wants us to show our healing with our lives. I pray that today is a day of open ears and clear speech for each of us, and it is well with my soul.
Reading 1 GN 3:1-8
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods
who know what is good and what is evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.
When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden
at the breezy time of the day,
the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God
among the trees of the garden.
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods
who know what is good and what is evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.
When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden
at the breezy time of the day,
the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God
among the trees of the garden.
Responsorial Psalm PS 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
R. (1a) Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R. Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
Alleluia SEE ACTS 16:14B
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MK 7:31-37
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.”
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.”
Shared with my daughter this morning. Especially meaningful to think about our Lord's healing today. Thank you Jen.
ReplyDeleteSo so beautifully said! And YES!! I’ll take a wet willy from Jesus!! lol
ReplyDeleteLoved this, “Jesus touched him where he was afflicted and that place of shame and anguish and loathing and humiliation became the very place where God entered and healed.” Our darkness is where we call our to Jesus most, and where only God can enter and heal.
Love it! Thank you Jen!