Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
“May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, grant that you may soon receive his word with your ears, and profess the faith with your lips, to the glory and praise of God the Father.” This is the prayer the priest says when he blesses with a sign of the cross a newly baptized child’s mouth and ears. It copies what we hear in our Gospel today, the healing of the deaf man.
In the Gospel, Jesus said over the deaf man, “Ephphatha!” In English, “Be opened!” We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the deaf man. His life completely changed after Jesus’ healing. He became someone totally different after his healing. He was deaf and then able to hear, he was mute and then able to speak.
When we were baptized, we changed from the persons we were, to different persons—persons now marked by Christ’s cross. Our baptism opened us to a light, a light that leads us away from the darkness of original sin. Use today to recall your baptism and how by it, you are different than who you were before. Different…for Him. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Reflection by Fr. Macario Martinez, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections