Coffee With God

Reflection: Mark 7:31-37

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.