23rd Sunday  B OT

1

Consider this: God is trying to speak to you

through the person that you least like to listen to.

You know who it is.

They talk constantly about nothing or about themselves

and you pretend to listen.

They are related to you – your husband, your wife, your teenager, your child

but you are so focused on your life, that you don’t really open your ears.

You often are not really present to them.

2

The gospel presents us with a healing story.

Jesus goes down to a Gentile town.

The crowd gathers

and places before him

a man who is deaf – he can not hear

and he is mute – he can not speak.

Jesus puts his fingers in his ears and opens them up

and he spits on his finger and touches his tongue.

It’s graphic – Jesus does not practice good hygiene by today’s standards.

Hear me – he takes his finger – the same one used to follow the words on a Hebrew scroll and

he says ephphatha –

that is; be opened!

Speak my words – he takes his finger and spits on it and touches the man’s tongue.

We would have a big problem speaking if our mouths were dry.

People who are mute or have some speech impediment

often times have a problem with the lack of or abundance of moisture in their mouth.

Jesus takes the moisture of his words and touches the man’s tongue saying

ephphatha – that is;

be opened!

3

This same ritual is used in baptism – it comes from this gospel.

It is called the Ephphatha.

After a child is baptized, the minister makes the sign of the cross

on the childs ears saying –

“The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the mute speak.

May he soon touch your ears to receive His Word,

and then the minister makes the sign of the cross on the child’s mouth

saying: “and your mouth to proclaim His faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father”.

4

It is often said that there is a good reason why God,

our ingenious creator,

made us with two ears and one mouth

we are to listen twice as much or as hard as we speak.

Jesus goes down to the Gentile town.

A place of people, who do not listen – can not hear.

Well, that’s the opinion of the Jews.

and Jesus opens them up.

5

Jesus tells the man who can now speak, not to tell anyone.

It is believed that Jesus was saying, do not tell anyone about this miracle

- what happened to you.

That would miss the point. The point, the proclamation should be to listen and speak,

for God wants to help and use all to proclaim His kingdom.

There are other scripture scholars, who must be parents,

who believe that the more you tell a child not to tell

the more confident you can be that they will be passionate about sharing the “secret”.

6

Just a few minutes ago,

before the gospel was proclaimed,

we performed a ritual action

similar to the ritual of this healing story.

Before the gospel,

a blessing was asked for (by the deacon)

and you also were invited into.

May the Lord be in your heart and on your lips

that you may worthily proclaim His Gospel.

It is according to the Roman Missal, a blessing given to the one who reads the gospel account.

In modern practice, the assembly has picked it up.

What was missing from that blessing?

How did it differ from what Jesus did to the man in the gospel?

There was no prayer to open our ears.

Our prayer is that we may hear in a way that it touches our hearts

and so pushes us to proclaim the praise of God.

The assumption is that we are already attentive to His Word.

We know it.

It’s engaging it, speaking it and living it from the heart,

that becomes or difficulty today.

and so the command of Jesus holds greater meaning for us

Ephphatha, that is: Be Opened!

Be present and conscious to what the Lord is trying to tell you.

Then as Isaiah proclaims:

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,

the ears of the deaf be cleared.

Consider this, God is trying to speak to you

through the Word you heard proclaimed today

Through people we need to be present to

Be opened!