DAILY- HOMILY

February 13, 2015 FRIDAY, 5TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Green

Gn 3:1–8 / Mk 7: 31-37

Reading: Gn 3:1–8

     Now the serpent was the most crafty of all the wild creatures that Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say: You must not eat from any tree in the garden?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden God said: You must not eat, and you must not touch it or you will die." The serpent said to the woman, "You will not die, but God knows that the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil."

     The woman saw that the fruit was good to eat, and pleasant to the eyes, and ideal for gaining knowledge. She took its fruit and ate it and gave some to her husband who was with her. He ate it. Then their eyes were opened and both of them knew they were naked. So they sewed leaves of a fig tree together and made themselves loincloths.

     They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day, and they, the man and his wife, hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

Gospel: Mk 7: 31-37

     Again Jesus set out; from the country of Tyre he passed through Sidon and skirting the sea of Galilee he came to the territory of Decapolis. There a deaf man who also had difficulty in speaking was brought to him. They asked Jesus to lay his hand upon him.

     Jesus took him apart from the crowd, put his fingers into the man's ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then, looking up to heaven, he groaned and said to him, "Ephphetha," that is, "Be opened."

     And his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone, but the more he insisted on this, the more they proclaimed it. The people were completely astonished and said, "He has done all things well; he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."

Reflection:

     In 1896, Dr. Hal Foster, an otolaryngologist in Kansas City, Missouri, called the first meeting of what would later become the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

     But Jesus was already ahead of him thousands of years ago, when he cured this deaf man by putting his fingers into the ears, touching his tongue and shouting "Ephphetha" – and the man's ears and tongue started to work perfectly. Christ was probably the first innovative EENT physician, who cured with divine power, without surgery or using MRI or any medical instrument.

     It is important to emphasize how simple and yet how great this action of Christ to cure this man was. Christ looked up to heaven to his Father before healing the person.

     Today Jesus can also heal us. We may not be deaf nor dumb, but we may not be using our mouth and ears as Christ would want us to do. We use our ears to listen to gossip and our tongue to speak ill, insult or destroy people. All the parts of our body have been created in order to utter the praise due to our God, but we have used them for our own motives and whims. And many times we have committed sin with our ears, eyes, mouth and tongue.

     We have not evolved to develop into beings with Christian eyes, ears, mouth and tongue. For this, we need a special healing from Christ to give us new eyes, new ears, new mouth and new tongues. Ephpheta means " be opened." It means that when Christ cures us, we become open to do God's will, with all the parts of our body. They cooperate in order to fulfill the mission of Christ to bring all men to Heaven. Let us deeply evaluate the state and especially the use of our ears, eyes, mouth and tongue and cry out to the Lord to heal us.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     ARSENIO SZE ALIANAN

     JASPER TIU

IN MEMORIAM (+)

     TAN AI LE TONG

     VIRGINIA LIM (MAR 28, 1935 – FEB 13, 2014)

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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