Friday in the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19

Psalm 81:10-11ab, 12-13, 14-15

M ark 7:31-37 Then he returned from the region of Tyre , and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee , through the region of the Decap'olis. (32) And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. (33) And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; (34) and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, "Eph'phatha," that is, "Be opened." (35) And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. (36) And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. (37) And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak." 

Meditation by Dick Hauser, S.J.

In today’s gospel the crowd brings to Jesus a deaf man with a speech impediment and begs Jesus to lay his hand on him. Note how Jesus deals with the man, one on one,  sensitively, carefully and compassionately.

“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!)”

Jesus is not a mass healer. Jesus looks individually on those who come to him for help and  adapts his help to their specific need, be it for physical or psychological healing or for encouragement and forgiveness.  This poor man was “deaf and dumb.”  So Jesus touches his ears as well as his tongue, and prays to his father. The gospel notes that immediately the man’s ears were opened and his speech impediment removed. 

The basic question for Jesus is always: What does my neighbor need from me today?

How often we find ourselves selfishly reversing the question  to  What  do I need from my neighbor? 

As members of the Body of Christ our primary vocation is extending Christ’s presence: we are Christ’s hands and hearts on this  planet.   God depends on us to touch our neighbor as Christ would if Christ were here. Let’s thank God for giving us the  Spirit of Christ in baptism and ask God to be open to this Spirit so we might truly be  Christ’s presence for others.

Supplementary Reading

Forgiveness Ensures Freedom

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ~ Hebrews 12:15

In business and life the opportunity to harbor bitterness for a wrong suffered is great. We are given plenty of opportunities to grow bitter from relationships that bring hurt and pain. The writer of the Hebrews passage above admonishes us not to miss the grace of God so that we won't take up bitterness as a response to life's pain. He cautions us against this because he knows that a bitter root grows and grows until it eventually defiles many others through a wake of bitterness.

If bitterness is allowed to take root, we become imprisoned to it. God's grace will no longer have as great an effect in our lives. We become ineffective, insensitive, and spiritually dead. We can even become physically ill from it. God does not live in bitterness. He lives in grace. He has provided grace for every person to walk in.

One day I was challenged to deal with an individual who hurt me terribly. I was faced with a decision. Would I choose bitterness, or would I choose grace? Oh, how my natural tendency was to choose bitterness. But God provided the courage to choose grace. With that grace came freedom-a freedom to love and even accept the person who was the source of such pain.

This is the real place where Christ's power is most revealed. We cannot live without His supernatural grace. Are you in need of grace today? It is there for the receiving. It will take courage to accept it and walk in it. This will be your step to freedom.  -- OS Hillman