Friday of 5th Week in Ordinary Time 

OUR LADY OF LOURDES, Optional Memorial

 

World Day of the Sick         

On February 11, 1858, our Lady appeared at Lourdes to a simple girl, Bernadette Soubirous. Since then millions of pilgrims have flocked to this town and have experienced there a renewal of their faith and for some of their health. Pilgrimages are a sacred tradition for God’s pilgrim people; very many of these pilgrim journeys are to Marian sanctuaries, where many seek the restoration of their health and their faith. The greatest miracle of Lourdes lies perhaps not so much in its spectacular cures but in the atmosphere of the trusting prayer of the pilgrims and in the unity of faith of the poor and the rich, the healthy and the sick.

                        

First Reading: 1 Kings 11:29-33; 12:19

One day Jeroboam was walking down the road out of Jerusalem. Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh, wearing a brand-new cloak, met him. The two of them were alone on that remote stretch of road. Ahijah took off the new cloak that he was wearing and ripped it into twelve pieces.

Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces for yourself; this is by order of the God of Israel: See what I’m doing—I’m ripping the kingdom out of Solomon’s hands and giving you ten of the tribes. In honor of my servant David and out of respect for Jerusalem, the city I especially chose, he will get one tribe. And here’s the reason: He faithlessly abandoned me and went off worshiping Ashtoreth goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh god of the Moabites, and Molech god of the Ammonites. He hasn’t lived the way I have shown him, hasn’t done what I have wanted, and hasn’t followed directions or obeyed orders as his father David did.

When King Rehoboam next sent out Adoniram, head of the workforce, the Israelites ganged up on him, pelted him with stones, and killed him. King Rehoboam jumped in his chariot and fled to Jerusalem as fast as he could. Israel has been in rebellion against the Davidic regime ever since.

 

Gospel: Mark 7:31-37 

Then he left the region of Tyre, went through Sidon back to Galilee Lake and over to the district of the Ten Towns. Some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak and asked Jesus to lay a healing hand on him. He took the man off by himself, put his fingers in the man’s ears and some spit on the man’s tongue. Then Jesus looked up in prayer, groaned mightily, and commanded, “Ephphatha!—Open up!” And it happened. The man’s hearing was clear and his speech plain—just like that.

Jesus urged them to keep it quiet, but they talked it up all the more, beside themselves with excitement. “He’s done it all and done it well. He gives hearing to the deaf, speech to the speechless.”

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
the Mother of Jesus was one with her Son
in the mystery of pain
when he saved people by his suffering,
his death and resurrection.
Through her prayers help those
who journey to her sanctuaries
because their bodies are racked with pain
and their hearts are pierced with a sword.
Give them the courage of faith
to keep hoping in you,
our God for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

“Ephphatha!”

Today the Church remembers the apparition of Our Lady to Bernadette in Lourdes on 11 February 1858. Since then, many who were sick got miraculously healed at the shrine in Lourdes. Today is also the World day of the sick. Blessed mother in Lourdes brings the message of caring for the sick. St. Bernadette herself died while taking care of the sick. Let us not forget to care for all those who suffer due to illnesses, especially in these days of the pandemic. And that should be the greatest miracle of Lourdes.

In today’s gospel Jesus is presented as a physician who heals the deaf and mute person.
This deaf-mute man is a figure of humanity in general, precisely because being deaf by not listening to the sounds, not listening to the words, he does not learn to make sounds and words and the person becomes dumb. It is the condition of the humanity, that is deaf to the Word of God; it is their inability to understand, to comprehend, to accept the Word. The humanity is unable to communicate the voice of God.

“Ephphatha!” that word that Jesus said imperatively: “Open up.” We have a closed man and Jesus gives him the order: “Open up.”

He orders this man, closed on himself, to open up. His ears open, the knot of the tongue is untied. It is an almost ridiculous image, that this man had his tongue knotted. Jesus’ word lets it go. This rite has been maintained in the celebration of the full rite of adult baptism. After the other symbolic gestures of the anointing, of the robe and of the light, the priest touches the ears and the mouth of the baptized saying: ‘The Lord Jesus who made the deaf hear and the dumb speak grant you to hear his Word soon, and to profess your faith to the praise and glory of God the Father.’

Listen and profess. Listen to the Word and profess the faith. This is the itinerary. This deaf–mute man becomes the prototype of the catechumen, that is, the one who attends the catechism in preparation to receive baptism, to be open to listen to the Word and be open to announce his faith. In fact, we want the Lord to continue to whisper this command into our ears “Ephphatha” that we become open to his Word and profess our faith through our words and deeds.

 

Video available on Youtube : “Ephphatha!”