Gospel

Mark 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.”

Reflection

People were changed when Jesus healed their body of some infirmity. They were never the same. And it seems that if we take this particular miracle and look at it carefully, it implies that there has to be some kind of awakening of something new, something different, in order for anyone to speak about it, to teach it. The miracles of Jesus, even the fact that they were what they were, was something that changed a person deeply, and they couldn't not speak about it.

Even though he often said, don't tell anyone about this, they still couldn't keep it silent. To be touched by God, in a sense, is to teach who God really is.

Closing Prayer

Father, there's something in all of us that longs for the gifts of God that comes through Jesus. And the joy of being able to proclaim it is a great responsibility and a great source of joy. So give us the wisdom to know how to speak, how to teach, how to open people up to this marvelous healing power that is our inheritance. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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