Be Opened

 From there he 

set out and went

 away to the 

region of Tyre.

 He entered a 

house and did

 not want

 anyone to know

he was there.

 Yet he could 

not escape notice,

 but a woman 

whose little

 daughter had an unclean spirit immediately 

heard about him,

 and she came and bowed down at his feet. 

Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.

 She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 

He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not 

fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 

But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the 

table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her,

 ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your 

daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on 

the bed, and the demon gone.

 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by

 way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region

 of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who

 had an impediment in his speech; and they begged 

him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private,

 away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears,

 and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up 

to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, 

that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were 

opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more

 he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has 

done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear 

and the mute to speak.’ Mark 7:24-37

Today I had the grim task of laying to rest a young man I knew.
It was a heartbreaking loss, parents who are trying to live with
such overwhelming grief. Trying to live out, "yet even at the
grave we make our song Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, is so very hard.
We want miracles and healing, and we want simple solutions for
complex human suffering. Yet as today comes to a close, I know
that God was there in the midst of our sorrow, healing, opening
hearts and minds.

In our Gospel we find two stories of parents aching to find healing
for a child. Parents who would do anything for the love of the child.
Jesus brings them their heart's desire. The boundless love of God is
found in the parent's love. And, we also know today, that God's
healing and love are active beyond the grave, beyond deep loss and
tremendous sorrow. God stands with us in these places.

Today, as the day comes to a close, I ask God to bring the healing
necessary, the turning of hearts and the opening of spirits needed
today. May we be instruments of God's love and healing, knowing
there are so many aching for redemptive love.