BE OPENED

PRAYER MOMENT  

Friday 14 February 2014. In the ninth century Saints Cyril and Methodius (today’s feast) laboured in eastern Europe to adapt the Christian faith to the Slav people. It didn’t work and the Orthodox developed their own way of proceeding. The Churches in the East and the West have been divided since the eleventh century. Much effort an prayer is underway today to repair the divide  and  return to unity and communion.

BE OPENED

Pause. Be still and enter into your own heart.

Reading. “And he said to him ‘Ephphatha’, that is ‘be opened’.”  (Mark 7:31-37)

Reflection. Mark sometimes gives us a sweeping description -  “all those who touched him were cured (6:56). But more often he will describe graphically a particular cure. In this instance Jesus goes to considerable trouble to heal a deaf and dumb person, but again there is the reluctance for it to be known because it may lead to misunderstanding about his mission. Yet it is impossible to keep such actions secret. For Jesus the important thing is not the cure itself but the “being open.” Yes, the man can speak and hear again. His tongue is loosed and his ears opened, but the key is whether his heart is opened. Does he welcome “the gift God is offering” (John 4:10), the new way, the way of forgiveness and compassion, the way – use Pope Francis’ word – of “inclusion” – not excluding some people from my hear and mind?  

Prayer. Lord, teach us to have an open heart, to receive your life, to have your mind, to love and serve and you loved and served. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ