EPhPhatha-23 sunday

23 Sunday in ordinary time




Good morning/evening every one, I am so happy to see you all and our special welcome to all our parishioners, cottagers, visitors and everyone here today. Dear friends, every time we come to Church, we hear Jesus saying to us, ‘Ephphatha’ means be opened to the divine words and we experience the healing power of Christ our Lord and every time we come to Church, we acclaim, “Christ has done everything well; even He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak”.

Once a man who thought that his wife was going deaf stood behind her and called, ‘honey, what are you doing?” there was no answer. So he got close to her and called again, ‘honey, can you hear me?’ there was no answer. Then he decided that his wife was hard hearing so he got very close to her and at the top of his voice said, ‘honey, you are getting deaf”. Then his wife calmly looked at him and said, ‘for the third time, I can hear you well’.
Once a man looked at his friend who was hard of hearing and said, ‘what did your wife say when you got home late last night?’ she was yelling and screaming at me. Then what did you do? Then man said, ‘I just turned out the light’.
In today’s gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ is found in the region of Despoils. He went to a non-Jewish region to teach His disciples and all that every land, every human and everything belong to Him. God is the author of everything and everything lives, moves and has its being because of Him alone. Today there are so many people fighting over lands, properties; communities and countries not knowing that nothing belongs to anyone. We are here to find god and share His love with one another.
We often hear people saying, ‘I have seen a beautiful bear crossing the road. I have seen a deer running around and we all get excited to see an animal or a rare bird or a tree but no one ever tells that he has seen a human-being full of love and forgiveness. Once a philosopher in broad daylight, with a lighted candle went to a market place and searched for something and when people asked him what he was looking for. He said, “I am looking for man”. When Pilate saw Christ, he said, ‘Ecce Homo’, behold the Man. Yes, Christ is the man, the divine man from whom we can learn love and kindness; compassion and forgiveness.
When He came with His disciples to a non-Jewish territory, people brought to Him a man who was deaf and mute. Jesus did not heal him immediately by saying, ‘your faith has saved you, go in peace’ or you are healed and celebrate instead He took him aside in private because He knew the minds of the people. He wanted to heal him according to their mind-set.

For example, when Christian missionary came to India to preach the Good News of Christ, they knew that India was mainly female gods worshipping country. So they brought Christian faith through Blessed Virgin Mary. Christianity rooted in every country according to its culture, custom and tradition.

Jesus put His fingers into his ears to show that He is God. Yes, the Bible says that God wrote the Ten Commandments using His fingers and His finger saved the people from the slavery and sin. His finger brought life on earth.
Jesus is the life giver and anyone who goes to Him will have an abundant life.
In today’s gospel, we see how our Lord Christ takes the deaf man aside away from the crowed and by touching his ears and mouth heals him. Jesus took him aside because He understood the situation of the deaf man. He needs lone time to recover and to understand the surroundings.

Then Christ our Lord uses the word “Ephphatha” it is an Aramaic word which means be opened. We see in the gospels how the Aramaic words are used to indicate the love of Christ and the intensity of the situation. Jesus said to the little child who died, ‘Talita cum” which means little child get up, and He said on the cross, “ Elai, elai lama sabactani”. Every time Jesus used some particular word, we see how He looks up in the sky and talks to His father. He thus let us know that His father and Him are the same and anyone who comes to Him for healing will receive what he needs.

And dear friends today our catholic community needs Ephphatha experience, yes, we have to open ourselves with the help of Christ to what is going on around us. and we have to open ourselves to the love and kindness of God and we have to open ourselves to people around us.

Conclusion: let us be with God almighty and celebrate life. amen.