Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
“He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’ (that is, ‘Be opened!’).” I am not going to lie to you, if anyone including Jesus did this to me, I would probably freak out! Jesus ordered the man not to tell anyone. If I were the man and the crowds and after he did all of that to me, I would have said “your secret is safe with me because what you just did was…weird.” But the man knowing who Jesus was and being afflicted with this all his life, he wanted to proclaim what Jesus did for him maybe for the right reasons.
Jesus didn’t want to be known because people would use Jesus as an object. “Jesus, heal this, Jesus heal that, Jesus cast out the demon…” It becomes mechanical and they use Jesus as if he was something to put on the shelf and use him when needed. Jesus wants to be with us always, in a loving relationship to grow with him and in him and through him, so that he can become not only our brother, but our best friend too! He will be with you and help you, but he wants you to love him in return.
Reflection by Br. Maximilian Burkhart, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections