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Open My Ears That I May Hear You




Open My Ears That I May Hear You
Mk 7: 31 – 37
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Introduction
In today’s gospel, we see Jesus healing a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. Jesus heals the man, giving him the ability to hear and speak plainly.

The Gospel
The Gospel begins by giving us a geographical detail of how Jesus traveled from the far western region of Tyre to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, called the district of the Decapolis. There, people brought him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking. The man must have been born deaf, as those who are born deaf usually grow up with impaired speech.
By now, Jesus’ reputation as a healer was well known. And so people begged Jesus to lay his hand on the man who was deaf, hoping for a miracle to happen. Then Jesus took the man off by himself, away from the crowd. 
In healing the man who was deaf, Jesus made two gestures. First, he touched the man’s ears with his finger. Then, he spat and touched the man’s tongue. Jesus then looked up to heaven and groaned and said to him: “Ephatha!” meaning, “be opened!”
Immediately, the man’s ears were opened and then he spoke plainly. Jesus then ordered them not to tell anyone about the miracle. But people were simply astonished at what Jesus did, saying: “ He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Reflection
People who are born deaf usually grow up having difficulty speaking. This is so because our  ability to speak comes from our ability to hear. Through our sense of hearing, we are able to imitate the sounds and the intonations of those that we hear; we are then able to replicate these sounds by listening to our own voice when we speak. 
We cannot learn to speak without first having the ability to hear and listen. Even in the order of learning, hearing precedes speaking. We learn because we have heard and listened. On the other hand, we fail to learn because we fail to hear and listen.
The gestures that Jesus did in order to heal the man who was deaf follow a similar sequence and order. First, he heals the hearing of the man, then he heals his speech. It is also important to notice that Jesus takes the man off by himself, away from the crowd, indicating how exclusive Jesus wants this healing to happen; it was to be a one on one encounter between the healer and the healed.
It is only Jesus who can bring back our ability to hear. It is only the touch of his finger that is able to restore our ability to listen. It is only Jesus who can open our ears so we can understand. The restoration of our ability to hear and listen also restores our sensitivity to hear even the faintest sound of his voice that speaks deep within our hearts.     
And when Jesus opens our ears, he does so in such a deep and personal way – far and away from the crowd. The healing of our sense of hearing occurs at the deepest level of our encounter with him. Jesus touches deaf ears face to face. 
And when our ears have been opened, then can our tongues be able to speak what we have heard from the Lord. When Jesus spat and touched the tongue of the man who was deaf, it was to be a symbolic gesture of how the words of Jesus, symbolized by his spittle, can heal our speech. 
We all need healing. We need God to restore our ability to hear his voice. We need God to restore our speech which has remained impaired because we have remained deaf. Our Gospel encourages us to seek this healing from Jesus so we may hear and speak once more.

Prayer
Open my ears Lord that I may hear your voice. Open my mouth that I may declare your praise.  Amen.



“ The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher… morning by morning he wakens -  wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. “  -  Isaiah 50:4

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