For there are many who “hear” but do not “listen”…There are many who “see” but have no “sight”….“Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”)……And immediately the man’s ears were opened”

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Mark about a man who was deaf and begged Jesus to help him….”He took him off by himself away from the crowd. 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!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened”….In his public ministry Jesus performed many healing miracles….But there is also something deeper here…This particular man could not hear…How many people today, even within the Catholic Church “do not hear” what the Church teaches….Sure they “hear it” or can read it for themselves but what they “hear” does not register……How can this be addressed?…..In order to “hear” the Truth in its fullness we must work at purifying our heart…And to do that takes supernatural grace….Supernatural grace you say??? - What is that? - Supernatural grace comes from the Sacraments, which were given to the world by Christ himself….When we go regularly (once a month) to a Sacramental Confession and then receive the Eucharist in the state of grace - We are empowered with supernatural grace, which enables us to “see” and “hear”…..Without this grace, our own individual biases, agendas and ideologies “get in the way”!

“He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak”

I remember years ago in my twenties I went to confession with an old Italian priest in Hoboken New Jersey….At the time I was not living a chaste life according to the precepts of the Catholic Church for those who are not married…This priest in the confessional was trying to address my sins against chastity and he was trying to show me where I “went wrong”…He was doing this in a very gentle and patient way I will add…I can remember to this day how I was actually arguing with him in the confessional…Looking back at this, I can “see” how clearly I was dead wrong!…This is just one example of how we are all in need of grace in order to “see” and “hear” - And how sin “gets in the way” of us “hearing” the Gospel Truth…..I heard a nun, who is also a medical doctor once say that when we do not live in the state of grace, its like we have cataracts in your eyes, which prohibits us from seeing clearly…Another priest described it this way….When your car windshield is dirty, you cannot see properly through it and your lack of clear vision can cause you to get into an accident on the highway….Even venial sins, which add up in time can make for a “dirty” windshield on your car…Its not until we “clean” the windshield, will see see all the “potholes” in the road as we drive…..Mistakenly, people equate navigating the many choices of life with age, experience and raw intelligence….Being highly educated has nothing to do with “seeing” and “hearing” to Truth that Jesus Christ proclaimed…There are many highly educated people both inside and outside the Church that are “blind” and “deaf”….The ONLY thing that allows us to “hear” and “see” Jesus clearly is a pure heart - And the only way to purify our heart is through Sacramental grace

“Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son”

Jesus today in the Gospel from mass, cures a deaf man, giving him back his ability to hear….To a degree, we all are that deaf man because each of us are sinners and sin “clouds” our ability to hear and see properly…Its not until we make a visit to the “Divine Physician” who will then prescribe for us “the medicine” we need….Frequent Sacramental Confessions and reception of the Eucharist in the state of grace is “the medicine”….…St Matthew in his gospel put it best….......”The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them”…..…For there are many who “hear” but do not “listen”…There are many who “see” but have no “sight”….“Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”)……And immediately the man’s ears were opened”