Daily Gospel Reflection for February 10, 2017

Today's Gospel: Mark 7:31-37 - St. Scholastica

In today’s Gospel, I can’t help but think what is going on in the mind of the deaf man right before and during his healing.

“Is the Wet-Willy really necessary?”
“Please don’t touch my tongue”
“Why couldn’t I be blind in this moment too?”
“At least there’s no social media, everyone will forget about this by tomorrow… right?... ‘Hey Mark, what are you writing?’”

It’s easy to get lost on the nuances of Jesus actions, or the disobeying of the witnesses that go and tell others about Jesus against his wishes of remaining quiet. But what must not be lost is that no matter what Jesus did, the deaf man needed to at first be open. Yes, Jesus says “Ephphatha!” but even before this moment, the deaf man needed to be open to Jesus’ gift. He needed to have the courage to come and ask for help, he needed to believe that Jesus knew what he was doing, and he needed to be open to the possibility that Jesus would/could not heal him. It was for these reasons, that he was healed. It was also for these reasons that he did not run away as soon as Jesus yanked his tongue and started spitting. There was an openness to doing whatever his Lord commanded, and a trust that his Lord would do whatever was best no matter how weird it seemed.

Today, we need to be open and trust our Lord just as much as the deaf man. It’s easy for to make the prayer requests, but are we always open to what is best, especially if that doesn’t mean getting what we want/hope for? Ephphatha, and even in disappointment it will still be rewarding.

[Tweet "The deaf man needed to believe that Jesus knew what he was doing. By @JWeyers"]

Ponder:

How do you remain open to God’s will in your life?

Pray:

Heavenly Father, assist me today in being more open to your presence, to your desires, and to your love. Assist me in sharing this openness with others. Amen.

Joe Weyers is a father, a husband, a youth minister, and a social media evangelist. He serves the Church in the Diocese of Evansville as Associate Director in the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry. In his spare time, he provides social media content and management for Catholic parishes with his company, The Agora 47.