“He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
This is good news for us, even if we can hear perfectly and speak without impediment. It is good news because we might just have to admit that we hear selectively and speak impetuously on occasion, right? We have to read this Gospel reading with attention to our spiritual lives in order for its message to live in our hearts.
Maybe Solomon in our first reading (and the first readings the last couple of days) could have turned to God for healing from deafness. If he had, maybe he would have heeded the Lord’s command not to marry into the pagan families of the land and pick up their customs. Then he wouldn’t have lost all but one of the tribes of Israel for his family and splintered the nation.
But it’s not just Solomon, not just the deaf mute, not just the Pharisees who need to have their hearing and speech healed. To those who turn a deaf ear to their family, or to the cry of the poor, Jesus says, “Ephphatha!” To those who sometimes gossip, or who have stuck their foot in their mouth in a social setting, or who have spoken ill of others, Jesus says “Ephphatha!” Jesus opens up the ears and mouths of those who turn to them so that they can hear the truth and proclaim it.
What is the word we need to hear today? What is God saying to us? What words do we need to speak today? When should we be silent? Today we all pray that Jesus’ word of healing – “Ephphatha!” – would help us deaf ones hear and mute ones speak.