"Ephphatha"

"Ephphatha" said Jesus to the deaf man. The actions that Jesus takes with the man when he is brought to him are puzzling for the observing crowds.  What power does he seem to have? Spitting, touching his tongue which I interpret as touching his tongue to clean his finger and pronouncing "Ephphatha!" thus curing the man.  What is the meaning of this?  For the crowd the man is cured from being deaf and mute. However, for us there can be a deeper interpretation.

Putting one's finger in the ear results in plugging up the ear canal resulting in poor hearing. Pulling them out brings in the sounds from our surroundings.  Upon closer reflection does one see that this miracle is twofold. Yes the man is cured from physical deafness, but also spiritually.

Many of us have had encounters with pain and suffering whether it be individually or those close to us.  We want immediate cures from these afflictions, but the question looms are we opened to what God has in store for us.  Are we really opened when asking for the suffering to be lifted?  One word resonates here - the word surrender. A word misunderstood for weakness by many, but within religious and recovery circles a word that simply means giving up the right to dictate what we want to God and letting Him do the rest.

Jesus instructs those watching his actions to not tell anyone, but I am sure that once we surrender to the will of God during difficulties and then have the burdens removed Jesus wants us to proclaim his power and goodness. We become like the today's first reading from Isaiah 35:4-7 in which the lame leap like a stag, the mute sing, the streams burst forth in the desert, etc. Let us be opened to the wonderful healing hand of Jesus in whatever difficulties we encounter, but let us then praise the Lord and recount his wonders (Psalm 9). "Ephphata!"