23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel – Mark 7:31-37
“Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened’”. Before doing this, Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. A unique way of dealing with this man. When people asked for healing, some He did with just the words. But this one, a personal touch can be seen. This opens us to the fact that Jesus wants to make a personal relationship with each of us. He takes us apart, away from the crowd, through different kinds of experiences to have a personal relationship with Him. Then with you He looks up to heaven and He says to you, “Be opened”. You heart is open to the love of God and at the same time, the heaven is opened to you. You are free to praise the Lord because you are free of your bindings, bindings of sin. Life changes when you let Jesus to make a personal relationship with you. He comes to us in the Word of God, in the Sacrament of Communion. Please let him take you apart through your daily experiences to have a personal relationship with Him. That changes life. Let’s reflect: Am I letting Jesus, who comes to me in Eucharist and in the Word of God, to make a personal relationship with me?
Don Giorgio