"Ephphatha!"

Liturgical readings


Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm 146
James 2:1-5
Mark 7:31-37

"Ephphatha!"


Healing from Jesus' hands comes about because of an act of humility and a response of faith on the part of the one who seeks healing. This act of humility and and response of faith can also be made by a group of people concerned with their ailing companion. A passage from Mark's gospel is a good example of this act of humility and response of faith. A group of people from the Ten Cities begged Jesus to cure their companion who was both deaf and mute. Some of Jesus' healing miracles involved just a word from Him. But in this healing act, Jesus used extra care: "He put His fingers into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue, then He looked up to heaven and said to the man, 'Ephphatha'!" Ephphatha means be opened.


It is very rare for anyone to be healed apart from family or community. When a member of the family or community is sick, the family or community is also concerned with the person's healing. They give support in terms of prayers, encouraging words or being with the sick person until he is healed. Every family or community is a unity. Like the physical body, when a part of the body like the thumb hurts, or becomes dysfunctional, the whole body suffers and feels the pain. So it is with the family or community. When a member of the family or community is ailing, all other members are affected and concerned.


It is the same with the Body of Christ. When a member of the Body is sick and needs healing, everyone is affected and concerned. Prayers are often offered in the Mass, and the priest or his communion ministers bring the consecrated host for the sick or elderly in their homes. The Sacrament of Anointing is also administered when the sick person needs to recover from a major illness. This service can only be done by the parish priest. For the many who believe, acknowledging God-in-Jesus as the ultimate source of healing, leads not only the sick, but also the entire family or parish community to complete trust and faith in God for the health of everyone.

St. Augustine: "Clean up your heart"

Liturgical readings


Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
Psalm 15
James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

"All these evils come from within and render a man impure."


In passages of Leviticus, the Hebrew tribes were prohibited to eat animals that were specified as unclean. This tradition of clean and unclean (which also extended to other situations and not just food) has been handed down from generation to generation. The Pharisees in the time of Jesus made the people observe these traditions, but neglected to teach the people the importance of interior purification. They overemphasized external rituals and neglected the path to a "clean heart". And this is what the Lord did not like His followers to do. For Jesus, it is also and more important to be clean within.


This interior process of purification emphasized by Jesus has also been handed down to generations of Christians in the history of the Church - especially in religious life. One of the best guides for this is St. Augustine. Augustine says that vices and sins cloud "the eyes of our heart", making it difficult to see the good well. We are called to take the painful (but healing) step of renewing our faith, of making a leap into the Good, hoping to see the light amidst the darkness around us (cf. St. Augustine's Sermon #53). Vices that stand in our way should be swept away before we can practice virtue. St. Augustine's advice rings out clearly for us today: "clean up your heart as much as you can! Work at it so that God may come and help you prepare the place where He wants to stay."


It has always been a practice in the Church to examine one's conscience by reviewing all that one did during the whole day before retiring for sleep. Taking time for silent prayer, we can review the disposition of our hearts and see what actions flowed from it. Doing this helps us to examine our souls and see where we are lacking in virtue and how we are to practice it more. This practice of examining one's conscience at the end of the day is a classic spiritual exercise for greater self-knowledge and a knowledge of God's grace acting in our lives. If we begin this discipline then we can work on our faults and imperfections and avoid the paths that lead to vice and sin. Perseverance in prayer and the practice of virtue, most especially to love God above all, and to love Him in others and in ourselves, is what the Christian life and community living is all about.

"The words Jesus spoke are spirit and life."

        
Liturgical readings


Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b
Psalm 34
Ephesians 5:21-32
John 6:60-69

"The words Jesus spoke are spirit and life."


We can understand why Jesus had a difficult time convincing His own disciples about giving His Flesh as food. It was difficult for Jesus to convince a people whose context of understanding was still rooted in their Mosaid Law - the Law Moses gave them in the Old Covenant. In this Old Covenant, the followers of Jesus and the others with them, understood as "food" only the food which their own Jewish Law permits them to eat. And that is stipulated in the Old Testament. Jesus, a wise teacher, instead of referring to the laws on food in the Scriptures, pointed to His own words as Spirit and life. He wanted His disciples to understand that His Body and Blood are nourishment for eternal life. But they still did not understand and left. They thought only of "perishable" food rather than the food that leads to eternal life. So the people left. Only the Twelve remained.


With the gift of the Eucharist, we understand now how Jesus words are indeed spirit and life. These point to the words of the readings and the gospel. And the prayers of the Mass also gives life to these readings. They help us situate our own lives in the life and Person of Christ, the Word-made-flesh - the Sacrament we receive in Communion. It is the Sacrament that brings the nourishment we need for our souls. It is in the Eucharist that our souls are healed, our spirits are ennobled once more, and our hearts are encouraged to live the Christian life and its principles. With a renewed sense of Life through the Body and Blood of Jesus, even sufferings and losses can have meaning - strengthening us against unbelief, despair or indifference. God's mercy in the Body and Blood of Christ blesses us and gives us new hope.


We are now called to listen well to the Scriptures being read in the Mass. These lead us to understand better what Jesus had been teaching His followers and all the people who listened to Him in Biblical times. Listening is easy if we learn to focus on what is really important. Some helps to this discipline is to know how to keep still and be silent. When we have learned to silence the inner noise within us, then it would be easier to listen to the Word proclaimed in the Mass. Maybe this is one reason why many of Jesus' unbelieving disciples protested and left. They did not know how to keep still nor did they remain silent; they did not listen so as to understand. But, the Twelve did. They only spoke when Jesus questioned them. The hearts of Simon Peter and his companions showed a predisposition to listen. We can learn much from their example.