Homily Series I 23rd Sunday of OT I Ephphatha I Be Opened

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus! Today is the 23 Sunday of Ordinary Time and our theme is Ephphata which means be opened! There is a short ritual in the rite of Baptism, for which the name and form are taken from today’s Gospel. During the Baptism ceremony, the celebrant touches the ears and then the lips of the one to be baptized saying: “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May He touch your ears to receive His word and your mouth to proclaim His Faith.” This Ephphatha prayer captures not only the essence of today’s Gospel but expresses the most profound aspect of Christian Faith. All the Scripture readings of today offer us an invitation to become humble instruments of healing in Jesus’ hands by giving voice to the voiceless, help to the needy, and service to the marginalized people in our society. The first reading from the prophet Isaiah (35: 4-7 reminds us that eyes are constantly focused on the helpless. He especially cares for "the frightened, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute and He encourages the powerless to "be strong and fearless." The responsorial psalm (146 sings of a God who gives sight to the blind, raises those who are bowed down, and welcomes strangers. In the second reading from the pastoral letter of St. James (2:1-5 the apostle gives us some basic, challenging principles of social justice. He exhorts Christians show no partiality based on external appearance and practice God’s preferential option for the poor. He warns the faithful against scorning or shaming the poor while showing special consideration to the rich. Today’s Gospel according to Mark (7: begins with the healing of a deaf man with speech impediment in the non-Jewish area of the Decapolis. This happened, in the Jewish culture where physical disabilities and sickness were commonly interpreted as signs of a sinfulness and as a curse from God. Many Jews would have considered this man to be stricken by God as a sinner. Hence, Jesus shows tender consideration for the weak by leading the man away from the crowd so as not to embarrass him. The miracle is described like a seven-step ritual: 1 Jesus leads the man away from the crowd; 2 puts His fingers into the man's ears, 3 Jesus spits on His own fingers, 4 touches the tongue with the spittle, looks up to Heaven, 6 sighs, 7 and the healing command: "Ephphatha” “Be opened." Here, we see how the love of the Lord heals the deaf man, his ears, and his soul. This miracle is not simply the healing of a physical defect, but a concrete sign of the transforming power of God's Love. The power of God's Love is still working even today in our lives transform sorrow into joy, sickness into health, death into new life. The dumb man who is unable to communicate symbolizes our own communication problem with God. The opening of a person’s ears means that he may hear the word of God and loosening of his tongue means he may speak his profession of Faith in Jesus. has great relevance to us A person can have perfect hearing and yet not hear the word of God, have perfect speech, and yet not be able to make an act of Faith. God wants the ears of our hearts to be opened. He wants us to hear what He is saying. He wants us to listen to His Words and be opened to receive His truth. God wants our mouth to be opened to talk to Him, to praise Him, to thank Him, to request Him to bless others and the whole world. God wants our lives to stay opened to go where He would send us, to do what He would ask of us to do, and follow new directions in our lives for our good, that of others, and for the glory of God. This would demand a personal transformation and acceptance of the truth in life. We need to help Jesus today to heal the deaf and the mute around us. They may be our family church coworkers, friends, neighbors, strangers, and even enemies. We can help Jesus by being gentle and compassionate to like Francis of Assisi, Damien of Molokai, Vincent de Paul, Teresa of Calcutta, and many more. We need to ask Jesus today to heal our own spiritual deafness and muteness. He continues to touch and heal us through the Sacraments that are the visible signs of invisible grace. Our Nature and Nurture can sometimes make us mute and deaf to the existential realities of our daily lives and even to God. However, let us be reminded that Jesus has the power to open the deafness and muteness of our spiritual lives caused by habitual sins and sense of no sin consciousness. Let our prayer be today, Lord touch that we can make this Ephphatha as our daily experience of our May God bless all and Happy Weekend! If you would listen to the breaking of the word please subscribe this channel and click the bell icon Stay tuned for the next weekend Video created with BIGVU Video Maker - https://bigvu.tv