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When I preach I regard neither doctors nor magistrates, of whom I have above forty in my congregation; I have all my eyes on the servant maids and on the children. And if the learned men are not well pleased with what they hear, well, the door is open.
- Martin Luther
(Detachment from others' approval: how liberating! How does approval-seeking influence your thoughts and behavior?)
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GN 3:1-8; PS 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
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.”
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
Jesus "said to him, 'Ephphatha!' (that is, 'Be opened!')" —Mark 7:34
When Adam and Eve sinned, they were expelled from Paradise, and the door to Paradise was closed (Gn 3:23-24). Human beings then began to be closed off to God and to one another (see Gn 3:8ff). After the first sin, death entered the world and closed us off from the happiness of everlasting life. During the centuries following the first sin, more and more lives were closed down by sin's escalating effects, such as war, sickness, starvation, racism, and violence.
Then God became Man and walked into a closed world to open it completely to God. Jesus "looked up to heaven and emitted a groan. He said to" a deaf man: " 'Ephphatha!' (that is, 'Be opened!')" (Mk 7:34) This is an example of what Jesus did throughout His public ministry. He eventually emitted the ultimate groan on the cross and opened the whole world to salvation (see Mt 27:50-53).
Jesus is knocking at the door (Rv 3:20). If you open up to Him, He will open you to eternal life and love. "Open wide the doors to Jesus!" (Pope St. John Paul II's year 2000 Great Jubilee message)
Prayer: Father, I repent of being closed to Your will. I open wide my heart (see 2 Cor 6:11, 13).
Promise: "Their amazement went beyond all bounds: 'He has done everything well! He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!' " —Mk 7:37
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
CHAPTER II. THE DIVINE ACTION WORKS UNCEASINGLY FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF SOULS.
SECTION V. The Action of Jesus Christ in the Souls of Men
The divine action continues to write in the hearts of men the work begun by the holy Scriptures, but the characters made use of in this writing will not be visible till the day of judgment.
The Holy Spirit continues to carry on the work of our Saviour. While helping the Church to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He writes His own Gospel in the hearts of the just. All their actions, every moment of their lives, are the Gospel of the Holy Spirit. The souls of the saints are the paper, the sufferings and actions the ink. The Holy Spirit with the pen of His power writes a living Gospel, but a Gospel that cannot be
read until it has left the press of this life, and has been published on the day of eternity. Oh! great history! grand book written by the Holy Spirit in this present time! It is still in the press. There is never a day when the type is not arranged, when the ink is not applied, or the pages are not primed. We are still in the dark night of faith. The paper is blacker than the ink, and there is great confusion in the type. It is written in characters of another world and there is no
understanding it except in Heaven. If we could see the life of God, and behold all creatures, not as they are in themselves, but as they exist in their first cause; and if again we could see the life of God in all His creatures, and could understand how the divine action animates them, and impels them all to press forward by different ways to the same goal, we should realize that all has a meaning, a measure, a connexion in this divine work.
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