My grateful thanks to Father David Nixon for filling in for me during the time I was away on vacation.

“Be Opened!”

With two little words, “Be opened!” and the actions that accompany them, Jesus heals a man who had been written off by the harsh labels of “deaf” and “dumb.” From that moment the man’s ears are opened to hear and his speech is restored so that he can now listen and speak. For the vast majority of us those gifts of hearing and speech are ours to enjoy. Let’s be honest, we usually just take for granted that we can hear and talk. In the sacrament of Baptism we are encouraged to be grateful for these gifts when the celebrant re-echoes Jesus’ prayer from today’s Gospel, called the “Ephphetha Prayer,” when he touches the ears and mouth and says, “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.” What deafness or speech defects do we need to bring to Jesus for healing? Are we deaf to:

- words of God whispered to us through our family, friends, co-workers or parishioners?

- words of God spoken in his beautiful gift of creation all around us?

- the call of God in our poor, broken, needy and unjustly treated sisters and brothers?

- words of praise, encouragement, thanks and support, intended to build us up?

- words of challenge that call us to change and grow, or act and speak differently?

- words of comfort that tend to our brokenness, pains, suffering and grief?

- words of wisdom that beckon us to change our attitude and approach life differently?

- words of forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation from people we have painted as the enemy, the opposition, the other side?

What speech defects do we suffer from; what words do we need to learn to say that will help us follow Christ and build up our community of faith?

- Never being able to say, “No” to certain people?

- The inability to say, “Yes” to certain people?

- The struggle to say, “I need help” or “I don’t understand” or “I’m not sure”?

- The openness to say, “Thank you” or “Thank God”?

- The humility to say, “I am sorry” and “I apologize”?

- The generosity to say, “How can I help?” or “What do you need?”

This week may the Lord open our ears to hear and our mouths to speak to the praise and glory of his name.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to:

- Fr. Pat for his kind invitation to be with you the past three weeks.

- The Parish Staff for all their kindness, hospitality, help and support.

- All of you for making me feel so welcome and at home in your parish community.