'LORD, THAT I MAY SEE.'
A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY ACCORDING TO THE CATHOLIC LECTIONARY.
Gospel
Mark 7:31-37
'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'
1.
Returning from the
district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right
through the Decapolis region.
2.
And they brought
him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech;
3.
and they asked him
to lay his hand on him.
4.
He took him aside
in private, away from the crowd,
5.
put his fingers
into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle.
6.
Then looking up to
heaven he sighed;
7.
and he said to
him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’
8.
And his ears were
opened,
9.
and the ligament
of his tongue was loosened
10. and he spoke clearly.
11. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one
about it,
12. but the more he insisted, the more
widely they published it.
13. Their admiration was unbounded.
14. ‘He has done all things well,’ they
said
15. ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb
speak.’
Jesus travels
widely. In fact, now he travels throughout the world. Wherever he finds his
disciples and people in need he is there. Jesus did wonderful deeds as in today’s
Gospel, but if we only have ‘unbounded admiration,’ we miss the significance of
what he does. The Gospel is not just a history of the past it is a springboard
for the present. Jesus does the same today in the spiritual realm. The Gospel
stories help us understand what he does for us today.
Our spiritual ears
need to be opened to hear God speaking to us. He speaks to our hearts through
our bodily organs. He does not despise the body as some spiritual people do. The
body is the channel for his spiritual healing. And so he uses water, oil, the
laying on of hands, bread, wine, vestments, statues, nature and the whole of
creation as a channel for his grace. We should appreciate them.
May he open our
ears and our eyes. Then we will be able to proclaim his glory and witness
through our words to all the great things he does for us.
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