A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 7;31-37
Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
REFLECTION: "He has done all things well".
When we sin, do we hide from God in shame (like Adam and Eve--Reading, Book of Genesis 3:1-8) or do we run to Him as a child? When we were babies, we were totally dependent on our parents for everything. When we were two, we still depended on our parents but we were finding our independence, our willfulness and we had many temper tantrums. Yet a few moments later we would be hugging and kissing our parents. When we were preteens we held grudges and sulked, but again we found ourselves in the loving arms of our parents. In our actions we were asking our parents for forgiveness and acknowledging that we loved them very much. Our parents reached out and took us in their loving arms. It is in touching, that love flows from one to the other, creating a stronger and sometimes a new bond of love. The child imitates his/her parents and in turn imitates Christ.
Christ is our model in ordinary life on how to treat one another.
When we call out to God, do we expect Him to treat us with love and gentleness or do we fear and doubt Him? Are we so ashamed of our sins that we don't even bother running back to God, as a child, asking for forgiveness? Do we not have any faith or confidence that God, our Father, loves us?
When Jesus met the deaf /mute man, he removed him from the gawking crowds, and then He physically touched him. It was this touch that placed the humanity of Jesus with the infirmity of the deaf/mute but it was Jesus' divinity which healed him. Through Jesus' kindness, compassion and pity for the man, the crowd witnessed a miracle. And it was in this identifiable human touch by God, we become aware that God is a very forgiving, loving Father who wishes us to be in His arms.
And the crowd said, "He has done all things well."
And by His example, He wishes us all to be more attentive to the needs of others and to help them. When people speak of us, do they say how amazed they are in our kindness, speak well of our daily work, comment on how detailed our work is, that we are punctual, show interest in all that we do? Does our work become a prayer to God? Will we hear God say to us, "My child, you have done all things well"?
I, for one, plan to spend more time in front of Jesus at adoration and in the tabernacle asking him for this amazing gift of doing all my work for Him and for His glory.
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