The Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
In our gospel for today we hear of the healing of the deaf man with a speech impediment. Living out a life without being able to hear and having problems communicating must have been very difficult for this man. I’m sure because of his disability he avoided people. He couldn’t understand or hear what they were saying to him, and because of his speech impediment, he felt embarrassed to speak. Jesus, being sensitive to this man’s needs, took him away from the crowd to bring healing to him.
In many of Jesus’ healings He just Wills the healing
to happen, and the healing happens. In today’s healing Jesus felt it was
important to put his fingers into the man’s ears and then, spitting, touch the
man’s tongue and says “Ephphatha” (that is “Be opened!”) The joy the man must
have felt must have been overwhelming to him. I’m sure also that Jesus probably
reached out to him with a hug and smile to bring him further comfort during
this amazing healing.
Jesus then orders the others with the man not to tell
anyone. But they were so amazed and overjoyed at this healing and the love and
mercy Jesus showed towards this man that they proclaimed it everyone.
There are times in our lives when we, like the man in
today’s gospel, needs to be alone with Jesus to share with him all our issues
and problems. We have our cares and worries that only Jesus can respond to and
help us with. We should always place all our cares and concerns into the loving
hands of Jesus. We can spend this time alone with Jesus at church or in the
privacy of our homes. Jesus is always there to reach out to us and give us the
healing that we need. Jesus touches us spiritually whenever we study scripture
to better understand God’s will for us in our lives. Further Jesus touches us
physically every time we receive him in Holy Communion or receive His healing
touch during confession. We just need to be patient with Him to bring that
healing to us. The healing or answer to our prayer may not happen as fast as we
may like, and it may not be in the way we ask, but Jesus will help us in the
way that is best for us. Jesus is always there with His loving presence,
waiting for us to turn to Him to ask for His healing touch.
Then, after we receive the answer to our prayers, like
the people in today’s gospel, we need to go and proclaim Jesus to the world
that so desperately needs the healing touch of Jesus. We are to bring other
people to Christ by how we live our lives and show our friends and relatives
that Jesus is indeed someone that does “all things well.” We may not be called
to proclaim the gospel publicly, but we are called to bring Jesus to all we
meet by how we live out our lives as Catholics and Christians. Lord Jesus,
grant us the healing and peace that can only come from you. Amen
From my email: Dear Deacon Tom,
ReplyDeleteThe Gospels reveals the history of the life of Jesus, the Son of God, as the One who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. His purpose for coming into the world was for the salvation and redemption of sinners.
He lived a life of love and mercy for the people of Israel by His performance of miraculous healing and becoming the personification of the Word of God through His sermons, (revealing the divine nature that He shares with God the Father and the Holy Spirit). After healing the people from all different kind of ailments, "He ordered them not to tell anyone.", and as today's Gospel reading proclaims, "But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it." (Mk. 7:36)
However, if the people in Jesus' time, would have done as Jesus asked them, where would we be, today? Or at anytime since then? There would be no Faith, Hope or Trust to cling to, due to our human weakness. How would we get to know that a Savior had come to redeem us from our sins, that we have the opportunities through penance, reconciliation and conversion in our relationship with God? How could we be sure that even after His Passion, Death and Resurrection, in true faith and trust in His Promise, that He will be with us, always, even til the end of times?
As you have stated in your homily, today, that "after we receive the answer to our prayers, like the people in today’s gospel, we need to go and proclaim Jesus to the world that so desperately needs the healing touch of Jesus. We are to bring other people to Christ by how we live our lives and show our friends and relatives that Jesus is indeed someone that does “all things well.”
Yours in Christ,
Nilda V., OCDS
Very good point, Nilda! Because the people whom JESUS healed told the people they encountered about it & because some people who were eyewitnesses to miraculous healings Our LORD performed, we who live almost 2000 years later can hear & read the accounts in the Gospels & come to believe, know, love & serve Our LORD.
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