“EPHPHATHA!”

“BE OPENED!”

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5th Friday in Ordinary Time is, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

We have here in Mark 7: 31-37 a wonderful healing story by Jesus - healing someone’s hearing as well as one’s speaking.

The obvious message is to use those words for prayer.

How about keeping  that scene in mind each morning and pray those words. Hear those words from Jesus to help us to hear well this day - to speak well this day.

“Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

“Ephphatha!” is one of those dozen or so Aramaic words - the language Jesus spoke - that can be found in the New Testament [1]

Suggestion: take your hand and touch your ear in gesture prayer, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!” Then touch the other ear praying, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!” Then touch one’s tongue. Touch it and say, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

EARS AND TONGUE

I would assume it’s significance in this story is that it includes both ear and tongue - listening and speaking. Both ….

I would assume that the openness includes not just the mouth but the ears as well - and not just one’s ears and one’s mouth - but to open one’s mind and heart and hands.

AN AESOP FABLE

In preparing this homily last night I found a quote and an anecdote.

You might have heard this from Father Mahoney - because I got his room and some of his books.

Aesop the famous creator and gatherer of Fables and Anecdotes was asked what was the most useful thing in the world. He answered, “The tongue.” Then when asked what was the most harmful thing in the world, he gave the same answer: “The tongue.”

Then the book I found this in told Aesop's fable about the 3 bulls who were always together. A big lion kept watching them from a distance - hoping they would stray from each other and he’d have one, two or three great meals.

The 3 bulls never separated. What to do? What next? Somehow, it’s sort of contradictory in the story, the lion whispered into the ears of each bull some gossip and bad stories about the other 2. It worked. Jealousy and anger got them to avoid each other and sure enough it was easy pickings for the lion. He had 3 great meals - and that’s a lot of bull.

A community, a family, a group, a marriage, can fall apart when gossip or jealousy starts with little stories and the rest is history. Gossip and jealousy, whisper and whining - need a tongue and at least 4 ears. Gossip and jealousy separate people from people.

CONCLUSION: TODAY

Today: today - right now - we’re at the beginning of a new day and we’re using our tongues to pray to God and our ears to listen to God.

Today’s first reading - 1 Kings 11:29-32 - continues telling us of the breakup of the 12 tribes of Israel - when the whole tribal federation of North and South broke apart. They divorced and separated.

The key message in today’s Psalm 81 is to “hear the word of God” and not be “hard of heart”. When folks stop listening to God and listening to each other - when folks stop working and talking with each other - they do this because they have started to listen to false gods and selfish alternatives and individuals, families, tribes and nations fall apart.

Today’s gospel tells us to hear  and then ponder or meditate on the story of the person Jesus healed of hearing and speaking problems. Stop and think. Realize! It could be me!

So once more my suggestion: take one hand and touch one of my ears in gesture prayer, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!” Then  touch the other ear and pray, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!” Then one’s tongue. Touch it and say, “Ephphatha! Be Opened!”

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Picture on top: "The Deaf Man of the Decapolis,"  Mark 7: 31-37, Robert T. Barrett - Notice the "do!"

[1] Maranatha, abba, raca, ephphatha, mammon, Eli, eli, lama sabactani, Rabbuni, hosanna, korban, jot, title, sikera, Boanerges, Cephas, Tabitha, Bethesda, Golgotha, Gabbatha, Gethsemani.