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It is far too easy, within the current upsurge of creative input in the realm of worship, to find ourselves chasing spiritual or aesthetic experiences, as if the highest achievement of our whole pilgrimage on earth were to enter some kind of praise-induced ecstasy! I am, in fact, all in favour of spiritual experiences when they are genuine, and welcome ecstasies that are the gifts of God and not
artificially induced, but if such things become the AIM of our gatherings for worship, then we have turned the gospel upside down.
- Graham Kendrick, Worship
(What is the "aim" of your spiritual practice?)
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1 KGS 11:29-32; 12:19; Ps 81:10-11AB, 12-13, 14-15
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
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"Their amazement went beyond all bounds: 'He has done everything well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!' " —Mark 7:37
Jesus healed people physically as a sign of healing people spiritually. He opened the ears of the deaf and freed the tongues of the mute as a sign that He would open our ears so that we can have a greater faith and open our mouths to proclaim that faith (see Mk 7:35).
Our spiritual deafness, dumbness, blindness, and paralysis are potentially damning. We live in potentially devastating spiritual conditions. However, Jesus is our Hope, our only Hope, and His continuing ministry of healing expresses that hope and points to its fulfillment in the sacrament of Baptism.
Healing accompanies the proclamation of the Gospel, leading to faith and Baptism (see Mk 16:16-18). Then Baptism leads us to receiving and giving Jesus' ministry of healing, which further leads us to participate in Jesus' ministry of hope leading others to faith, salvation, and Baptism.
At Baptism, we pray Jesus' prayer "Ephphatha" (see Mk 7:34). This is the ultimate opening. The baptized have spiritually opened ears, mouths, eyes, and hearts. May healing lead to and from Baptism.
Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit to guide me more deeply into the mystery of Baptism.
Promise: Jesus "put His fingers into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then He looked up to heaven and emitted a groan. He said to him, 'Ephphatha!' (that is, 'Be opened!')" —Mk 7:33-34
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER II. THE DUTIES OF THOSE SOULS CALLED BY GOD TO THE STATE OF ABANDONMENT
SECTION III. The Different Duties of Abandonment. The active exercise of abandonment either in relation to precept, or to inspiration.
Although souls called by God to a state of abandonment are much more passive than active, yet they cannot expect to be exempted from all activity. This state being nothing else but the virtue of abandonment exercised more habitually, and with greater perfection, should, like this virtue, be composed of two kinds of duty; the active accomplishment of the divine will, and the passive acceptance of all that this will
pleases to send. It consists essentially, as we have already said, in the gift of our whole self to God to be used as He thinks fit. Well! the good pleasure of God makes use of us in two ways; either it compels us to perform certain actions, or it simply works within us. We, therefore, submit also in two ways; either by the faithful accomplishment of its clearly defined orders, or else by a simple and passive submission to its impressions of either pleasure or pain. Abandonment implies all this,
being nothing else but a perfect submission to the order of God as made manifest at the present moment: It matters little to the soul in what manner it is obliged to abandon itself, and what the present moment contains; all that is absolutely necessary is that it should abandon itself unreservedly. There are, then, prescribed duties to be fulfilled, and necessary duties to be accepted, and further there is a third kind which also forms part of active fidelity, although it does not properly
belong to works of precept. In this are comprised inspired duties; those to which the spirit of God inclines the hearts that are submissive to Him. The accomplishment of this kind of duty, requires a great simplicity, a gentle and cheerful heartiness, a soul easily moved by every breath of directing grace; for there is nothing else to do but to give oneself up, and to obey its inspirations simply and freely. So that souls may not be deceived, God never fails to give them wise guidance to
indicate with what liberty or reserve these inspirations should be made use of. The third kind of duty takes precedence of all law, formalities, or marked-out rules. It is what, in saints, appears singular and extraordinary; it is what regulates their vocal prayer, interior words, the perception of their faculties, and also all that makes their lives noble, such as austerities, zeal, and the prodigality of their self-devotion for others. As all this belongs to the interior rule of the Holy
Spirit, no one ought to try to obtain it, to imagine that they have it, to desire it, nor to regret that they do not possess the grace to undertake this kind of work, and to practise these uncommon virtues, because they are only really meritorious when practised according to the direction of God. If one is not content with this reserve one lays oneself open to the influence of one's own ideas, and will become exposed to illusion.
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