Today’s Gospel contains the strange word “Ephphatha.” This Aramaic word is translated “be opened.” Aramaic was the language that Jesus and his fellow Jews spoke in their everyday discourse. Hebrew, which is similar to Aramaic, was reserved for religious services, particularly the reading of the Scripture.
Jesus heals a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. The impediment might well have been a result of his inability to hear. Jesus commands the ears of a deaf man to be opened (“Ephphatha”) so that he can hear. After this healing the people acclaim, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
While we may not be physically deaf like the man in the Gospel, we may still need Jesus’ healing touch. What are the ways that you and I close ourselves off, to others and even to God? We may refuse to listen to someone because we presume, they are saying the same old thing. We may even refuse to listen to God and/or the Gospel because we have heard that story before. So, you and I need healing, we need to have Jesus pronounce “Ephphatha”, “be opened” to our closed hearts, minds, and ears. Jesus is personally addressing us in each Gospel story and asking us to encounter him and enter into relationship with him. Each day is a chance to walk with Jesus, to learn from Jesus, to see and hear a loving God in the words of Jesus. “Ephphatha,” Let us be open to hear the Word of God, Jesus speaking to our hearts.