Be opened!

Twenty-third Sunday in

Ordinary Time

5 September 2021 

 

First Reading: IS 35:4-7a

Responsorial Psalm: PS 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10

Second Reading: JAS 2:1-5

Gospel: MK 7:31-37

 

Reflection

By: Theresa Ballo

 

How has the pandemic changed us? At some point, it cripples us. It made us feel more isolated, alone, and probably depressed. We cling on to hope, to faith, to God. Just like the man in today's Gospel. There are moments we are deaf, that we fail in listening to God's message amidst all this sickness and chaos around. There are days we are mute, keeping things we want to say to ourselves. We fear being bullied once we express an opinion on some pressing matters happening around us. The man in the Gospel represents us in so many ways.

Just like the deaf-mute man, we are disconnected. Less to no more physical interactions with relatives and friends. We have less opportunities to eat and drink together, make face-to-face conversations and feel someone's embrace. For people like me who are very visual, I'm having a difficulty making spiritual connections when attending online masses. Every Sunday night, as I lay myself to sleep, I wonder most of the time, what was Sunday's homily all about.

Just like the deaf-mute man, we are unable to express. The man's speech impedicament came from not being able to hear. In analogy, if we fail to listen to God's message, we will also have a hard time talking to God. Maybe some of you who are reading this can relate to me. I struggle to talk to God, praise Him, and share my thoughts nowadays.

Yet when people around brought the deaf-mute man, Jesus knew already about his illness. Similarly, Jesus knows we are suffering too. Jesus knows I am suffering. This sick man was brought to him by some people. In spite of his condition, there are still people around him who care enough. These people begged Jesus for the man's healing. Thus there are people in our life who cared about us and who are currently caring about you.

JESUS MEETS US WHERE WE ARE. In the Gospel, Jesus led the deaf-mute away from the crowd, had a private moment with him and healed him. Maybe that's why I was asked to do this month's Sunday reflections so He would have a reason to be with me. He knows that I cannot reflect and write in a noisy environment. He knows that for me to be able to do this, I have to stay late at night or at dawn, when most of the things around me are still. He meets where I can express myself--in writing. It gives me hope that soon, someday, one day, I'll be okay. You are too. If you are anyhow like me, not feeling at your best for the past weeks, you will be fine. Hang in there.

Only Jesus' mercy and power will all these viruses be gone, CoVid-19 virus and other viruses it brings such as indifference, selfishness, and lack of empathy. I look for the day that Jesus again will said, "Ephphatha", that is be opened! Instantly, the man could hear perfectly and speak plainly. There is hope. Faith gives us hope. Never let it go.

 

Prayer

 

Jesus, I hear You when You said to the deaf-mute man, be open! Unblock my ears so I can do more than just hearing. Give me grace to be nourished by Your words and the words of people I listened to. Open my heart that I may still show sensitivity to the suffering of others. Use my words to speak gratitude for your loving kindness always. Amen.

 

Easy For Him

 First Reading: Is 35:4-7a

Thus says the LORD:

Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10

Second Reading: Jas 2:1-5

My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please, " while you say to the poor one, "Stand there, " or "Sit at my feet, " have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs?

Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?

Gospel: Mk 7:31-37

Again 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

By Cris Balla

The passage from Isaiah is a narration of the future; after all, he was a prophet. He asks those whose hearts are frightened to be strong for a Savior is coming. "Thus says the LORD: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, He comes with vindication; with divine recompense He comes to save you." Then the Gospel reading tells of the miracle Jesus performed on a deaf-mute. This miracle is a very specific confirmation of what Isaiah foretold many hundreds of years before the time of Jesus.

The story starts with Jesus traveling to Decapolis. (I did some wiki-reading about the Decapolis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapolis - and it was apparently a 10-city federation around the Sea of Galilee). There in Decapolis, He was asked to heal a deaf-mute, and so He performed a miracle.

I think there are a number of learning for me in this Gospel reading.  First, I think that God listens and responds appropriately when we ask Him for something. In the Gospel, Jesus obliges when He was asked by the people. He did not deny them the healing of the deaf-mute when they "begged Him to lay His hand on him"... So, let's ask Him. And let's not be abashed for He is our Father after all. And am sure He will answer our prayers. It is easy for Him to grant our prayers.

Imagine how apparently easy for Jesus to perform the miracle. "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!".

Apparently easy, but if we put some emphasis on (1) His act of taking the man away from the crowd and then (2) His gesture of looking up to heaven, I think we can also deduce that He was probably praying to God when He looked up to heaven, and so He took the man away from the noise of the crowd so He can pray and talk to His Father in a more conducive setting.

So my second learning is that we should pray. And when we pray, we must concentrate, away from distraction, away from the "noise" and the clutters of our lives. After all, even the Son of God has to pray to the Father, and when He prayed, He wanted an environment that did not interfere to His praying.

My third learning is from this same snippet: We need assistance of God. When Jesus prayed, He was probably asking for His Father's assistance. I believe that He can do it alone, but He chose to ask assistance. By this gesture, I think He is teaching us to recognize that we need assistance from the Father too. That our own abilities and all our education are insufficient to face the challenges in our lives.

So, let's go ahead and ask; we shall receive :) And then "He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it"… Good deeds cannot forever go unnoticed, and so the people themselves proclaimed His deeds. And so my last take-away is a reminder that "Actions speak louder than words".

Have a great day!

Prayer:

Father, like Jesus, please make it easy for us to pay attention to people who needs our healing touch. Help us in bringing more people closer to Your embrace as we try to nurture an intimate relationship with You.

Ephphatha

23rd Sunday In Ordinary Time
06 September 2009



Come, let us rejoice in the Lord: let us acclaim God our salvation, alleluia.

First reading Isaiah 35:4-7
Say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;
for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 145:6-10

Second reading James 2:1-5
My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?

Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

Gospel Mark 7:31-37
Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’

Reflection
By Fidji Rivera - Sarmiento

I am an 80s baby. By the time I came to realize where I live, and that my country is the Philippines, it was already the EDSA revolution. I still remember back in preschool, when my teacher asked us to wear yellow, and I was tasked to sing Magkaisa. Whenever I watched the television, though it felt at that time that we as a people were victorious over some villain, I always sensed that my country was (and still is) poor. Poor in such a way that we are very unlike the United States and the European countries, and that Japan was a place where some of my classmates’ parents work. Of course, after having Sibika at Kultura (Civics & Culture), and Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) in school, I learned that we are even a third world country. My questions back in high school are still questions today. Let me share them with you.

1. Why is the Philippines poor?
2. Has poverty become our culture? Has it been the part of the Filipino psychology?
3. Is there a connection between our being Christians and being in the poverty line?
4. Is money really the root of all evil, or is it how money rules one’s life?
5. Have we taken Jesus’ words literally, so much so that we subconsciously chose to remain poor to see the kingdom of God? And then complain that most of our country is hungry and dissatisfied with the government?
6. Why do people blame the government for their misfortunes?

I know that for some of you, these queries are very immature, yet they have evolved to complex ones, try reading about this topic online (Philippines’ culture of poverty). But the premise remains the same. Some might also think that I am siding over the government, for which I truly am not. I am neither pro nor anti-government. But why have we remained poor? Deaf? Blind? Crippled, even when Jesus has already commanded, Ephphata!” meaning “be opened”?

Poverty has never been, and will never be a hindrance to any success. This has been such a cliché, and it seems that some Filipinos have never learned that, after watching so many episodes of Maalaala Mo Kaya, or Negosyete even. It seems to me, that after all, we have remained the Juan Tamad, waiting for the apple to fall from the tree, just like we are waiting for the government to wave its wand and turn this country upside down. Try passing by a squatters’ area where you can see tables and tables of men (and women, too) doing nothing productive. They drink, play bingo, gossip, and blame the government for their mishaps.

It is high time, that we stand up and become proactive. We have all the right tools in our bag – we are Christians; we are intelligent and creative; we are humble and we know suffering and sacrifice like no other; we are resilient Filipinos.






Father,
Today, we especially pray for our country. That we realize that the change we have been yearning for lies within us. It is not upon the government, or our employers but it is upon ourselves, and how we strive to be better Christians each day and contribute to the society. May we stop the blame game, but rather take the initiative in being productive on our own and be accountable to each Filipino. May we use the talents that you have endowed us, and think of creative ways to enrich ourselves in order to help our kapwa Pinoy (fellow Filipino). May we realize that being poor does not mean being financially poor, but rather poor in spirit, humble and obedient to Your Will. In the end, may we remain open to You and always heed to Your Call – “Ephphata!” This we pray through Mary our country’s Beloved Mother. Amen.