“Ephphatha”

Reflection for Friday  of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time Year
(Gen 3:1-8; Mk 7:31-37)
The serpent creeps in...! God had set creation in motion, entrusting all to man to take charge. He blessed man and gave him freedom to make choices—choices which must conform to the will of God in order to maintain the orderliness placed in creation. Now Satan came to question the boundaries of man's freedom. The idea of freedom without limitation is tempting, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruits and ate; and she gave some to her husband, and he ate.”

They turned deaf ears to God's instructions against the forbidden tree and fell to Satan's trick. The removed the limitation to their freedom placed by God. Their eyes were opened, and the they saw chaos! Their ungraced humanity surfaced. Self-consciousness replaced mutual love. They began to veil their “nakedness.” Shame took the place of freedom and confidence. They lost ‘status’ with God, and hid under trees for security and relevance!

Jesus steps in in the Gospel of today as He heals the deaf man. “He put his fingers into his ears...and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, ‘ Ephphatha,' that is, ‘be opened.’ And his ears were opened...” Now our ‘deaf’ ears have re-inclined to God's instructions. The fullness of God's messages is in Christ Jesus. We follow Him as the way; we listen to Him as our Good Shepherd. The creeping voice of the ancient serpent finds no place in those who are in Christ. “My sheep know my voice...”

Fr Jude Chinwe Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Immaculate Conception Parish,
Iba Estate,  Lagos.
Friday 15th February, 2019.