by Deacon Mark Danis | December 17, 2024 1:00 am
What is it in our life that keeps us from hearing the Lord speak to us, not to our physical hearing, but to our deepest interior? That is the place where we are the most truly ourselves, and where we need to be able to hear the Lord’s healing voice.
And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Eph′phatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”
– Mark 7:32-37
This Gospel story begs two questions. First, why did Jesus take the deaf man with the speech impediment away from the crowd to administer a healing? And second, why did He order them not to tell anyone. We might think Jesus would want the crowds to know that He had the power to heal.
In truth, Jesus is very interested in helping His listeners understand that He has the power to bring about healing in their lives. But He does not want those who are following Him to focus primarily on the physical healing He performs. Instead, He wants them, and us, to desire a much deeper and more lasting healing.
Frequently in the Gospel stories when Jesus does perform a healing, He encourages the recipient of the miracle not to share the news with others. He was well aware that the people He came in contact with were very focused on their worldly lives, and that they would pursue Him primarily for the material benefits they believed they could get from Him.
And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Caper′na-um, do here also in your own country.’”
– Luke 4:23
This was also true when it came to the most basic needs of daily life.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
– John 6:26
Jesus is always driven by great compassion. But He also understands the risk He runs in allowing individuals to become overly focused the temporal, the temporary and the immediate desires of their hearts. He is always trying to get His listeners, and us, to focus on the higher things, those weighty matters that have to do with eternal life.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
– Matthew 6:33
If we accept the counsel of St. Paul in his Second Letter to Timothy:
All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…
– 2 Timothy 3:16
Then we should desire to find the underlying teaching that is intended for us personally. In order to do this, we might want to ask ourselves a few questions.
What is it in our life that keeps us from hearing the Lord speak to us, not to our physical hearing, but to our deepest interior? That is the place where we are the most truly ourselves, and where we need to be able to hear the Lord’s healing voice.
In addition, what, if anything, keeps us from being able to offer the eternal Hope we should have in our relationship with Jesus Christ. In other words, are we prepared to respond to this challenge by Saint Peter?
Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence…
– 1 Peter 3:15b
In prayer, we should, each day, approach the Lord and plead with Him to heal us of any impediments to our ability to hear and experience His message. And then we should ask that He free our tongue to be able to bear witness to Hope that inevitably must reside within us.
Copyright © Mark Danis
Image credit: Bartholomeus Breenbergh[1], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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