Ephphatha," that is,
"Be opened." A beautiful Hebrew word. And the man's ears were opened,
his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. This was a sign of the Messiah. Isaiah
had said, in our first reading, that the eyes of the blind would be opened, the
ears of the deaf be cleared, the lame would leap like a stag and the tongue of
the mute would sing. The people realized that Jesus was performing these signs.
With a joy beyond comprehension, they realized that the Messiah was among them[1].
People are
looking for hope. They are looking for joy. They are looking for some good
news. There is an abundance of bad
news out there. We don’t need to itemize all the areas of concern in the world.
There are plenty of people who tell us what is wrong with the country and the
world, ignoring the fact that they are themselves part of the problem. It is easy for us to join in with the
negativity. If we have a
pessimistic attitude towards life, we will miss the wonders of the Lord all
around us.
The world
belongs to us. Everything that God
created reflects Him. St.
Augustine called this the analogy of being. He said that if we consider the beauty, goodness and truth
of everything the Lord made, we would have a finite reflection of His
Divinity. Think about this. The
world really is beautiful. And it
is given to us. We can look at sunsets and say, “Good job, God.” We can look at
the flowers and wonder how beautiful our God is. We can look at the birds and
other animals and wonder at our Creator. And all this is given to us. Yes, we
can, and sadly often do, pervert His creation by using it in a selfish way, in
a way where His hand is not recognized. But, when we don’t misuse his creation,
we come to a deeper appreciation of His gifts. Consider physical love. Yes, we can pervert this through
selfishness. That is the basis of the sex industry. But when we put God in the center of physical love, His
love, sacrificial love, then sex becomes marital love, and is one His many
gifts. We need to open our ears, hear the Good News, and open our mouths and
proclaim to others that all that God has given us is good as long as we keep
Him in its center.
And death is
given to us. How is that a
gift? Well, people who do not
believe in the Lord of Life view death as a final end to existence. We have
hope. Death is a transition from
one state of living as God’s people to another state of living as his people. This
second state of being is far superior to the first because we enjoy a deeper
and fuller union with God. We need
to be open to this truth in our lives.
We cannot allow ourselves to fall into the despair of the godless
elements of the world. And we need
to open our mouths and let people know that with Jesus Christ, death is not an
end, it is a beginning.
The present
is ours and the future. God has given us the ability to enrich the world with
His Kingdom. People go to the
mission lands to help others recognize the hand of God in their lives. They return realizing how much God is
loved among the poorest of people.
Politicians speak about the wonderful future they will provide if they
are elected. The only truly
wonderful future is that future which is centered on God. We can provide this future for our
children. The future is given to
us. We just need to keep our ears open to the ways we can allow God’s wonders
into the world, and we need to call people to be part of the reconstruction of
the world according to God’s plan.
When Jesus
opened the deaf man’s ears, when He helped the man speak clearly, He performed
miracles. When we are open to hear the Good News of God’s gifts, when we
proclaim to the world the wonders of our Creator, people will come to a deeper
realization of their infinite worth, the beauty of their lives, and their
capacity to be united to God now and forever. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ. And it is miraculous.
[1] 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
(B), September 6, 2015. Readings: Isaiah 35:4-7a; Responsorial Psalm 146:7,
8-9, 9-10; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37.
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