Week 5 : Friday of 5th week, uneven year
“Returning from the territory of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon towards the Lake of Galilee, right through the Decapolis territory. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him.” There is something to be admired in these links that unite Jesus with the crowd; a complicity unites the poor with the Infinite Mercy of God. So happy with what Jesus is going to do “they” bring to him this person who is suffering. “They” already know he will act, thus communicating faith to this man who perhaps did not know Jesus. Jesus will create a unique link with him! So Jesus heals at the same time the deafness of this man and his tongue which is a source of embarrassment to him. both these ills are often linked together : often the dumb are dumb because they are unable to hear; they cannot speak because they have never heard anything. They have grown up and aged in a soundless and wordless universe. This is the way we are in prayer before God ; very often it is our dafness that makes us dumb and timid. As we cannot hear the Word of God,we no longer find the words to speak to him or to speak of him. May today’s gospel heal us of this. May just one word from Jesus make us permeable to his word and may we become ardent in our praise of him, thus becoming his witnesses. Still today Jesus places upon us his hand, he touches our ears with his hand, he touches our tongue with his saliva, he sighs to the Father so that we may have life. He gives us Life and he gives it to us in Plenitude. We believe this and are aware that in faith we are saved by Jesus in this mystery of healing that we celebrate: He came for
me, he suffered for me, he died for me, he rose from the dead to bring me life! It is about me, in an unique intimacy with him, in the gift he makes of himself to me.
“He took him aside to be by themselves, away from the crowd, put his fingers in 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 at once the impediment of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly.” Jesus gazed longingly up to heaven so s to indicate where the healing came from : the power of God will be manifested. Jesus sighs ; not out of tiredness. He has not grown weary of bringing about miracles at the faith-filled request of ordinary people, if he sighs it is to to take upon himself the groaning of suffering humanity, these long complaints of chronic illnesses and handicapped people. Thus he accomplishes what the Prophet Isaiah wrote about the Suffering Servant : ’It was our illnesses that he bore.’
Then comes the word, just one word,, that accompanies the healing.It is such a mysterious word that Mark keeps the original Armenian language that Jesus spoke : “Ephaphata, Be opened! It is an order and a programme for life. we were created in a relationship with Our Father and with our sisters and brothers This filial relationship opens up a new Love that is even greater, a n even more beautiful harmony. The expectations and desires in this man take on a body that is lived in God s rhythm. Jesus”redoes “the acts of the Creator. This man will be able to consent to the Infinite Love of God that Jesus evokes, lifting up his gaze to heaven; he can become the beloved child of the Father.” And Jesus ordered them to tell no-one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they proclaimed it.Their admiration was unbounded, and they said, ’Everything he does is good, he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’ "We can understand the enthusiasm in the crowd for his desire is so great. It is indeed in God’s Love that we can love each other. just as God loves us. We are create din the image and resemblance of God and it is in his contentment that we will become who we are. This love reaches the infinite dimension of our desire since we are created for infinite Love. In Baptism, Jesus took us entirely to himself. Baptized in Christ, we bathe in the living waters of his life, the source of Salvation.
God’s Word is given to us on a daily basis so as to place us once again before the mystery of Jesus who loves us, who saves us today and at this very moment. Jesus works“things”that are even more great and mysterious when we celebrate the Eucharist. When we take part in the Divine Eucharist we celebrate the paschal mystery. In each one of us the encounter with Jesu takes place! we hear the Word of God that manifests to us just how close esus is to us and the gift he makes of himself. He heals us, he visits us, and he establishes us in a heart to heart with him. when we receive the Bread of Life, it is Jesus I his humanity and in his divinity, in his whole being, who comes to visit us and to heal us. he walks along side us in the paschal mystery in a heart to heart with us!