FRIDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Mark 7:31-37) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue.” (Mk 7:33)

FIRST READING - Genesis 3:1-8

A reading from the Book of Genesis

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals

that the LORD God had made.

The serpent asked the woman,

“Did God really tell you not to eat

from any of the trees in the garden?”

The woman answered the serpent:

“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;

it is only about the fruit of the tree

in the middle of the garden that God said,

‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”

But the serpent said to the woman:

“You certainly will not die!

No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it

your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods

who know what is good and what is evil.”

The woman saw that the tree was good for food,

pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.

So she took some of its fruit and ate it;

and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,

and he ate it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened,

and they realized that they were naked;

so they sewed fig leaves together

and made loincloths for themselves.

When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden

at the breezy time of the day,

the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God

among the trees of the garden.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mark 7:31-37

From the Gospel according to Mark

Jesus left the district of Tyre

and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,

into the district of the Decapolis.

And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment

and begged him to lay his hand on 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,

his speech impediment was removed,

and he spoke plainly.

He ordered them not to tell anyone.

But the more he ordered them not to,

the more they proclaimed it.

They were exceedingly astonished and they said,

“He has done all things well.

He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

FRIDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Mark 7:31-37)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

Today's Word of God talks about Jesus healing a man who is deaf with a speech impediment.

When Jesus came into the district of Decapolis, where He had cast out demons and sent them into a herd of swine (Mark 5:1-20). When the villagers saw Jesus coming to their village, they brought to Him a man who was both deaf and had a speech impediment; here we can speak of both physical and spiritual illness.

Jesus pulled the deaf man away from the crowd because when he was with the crowd, he could not hear the words of God, and could not open his mouth to praise God; because the demons intertwine in the crowd and draw people away from God. But with the authority and power of God, He knows that evil is enticing people.

So He pulled the deaf man with a speech impediment out of the demon's temptation. He laid His hands on the man's head with the authority and power of God to heal him of both physical and spiritual illness.

He put His fingers into the man's ears; the fingers were a sign that the Holy Spirit would open his ears so that he could hear the voice of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit would drive out the demons that were blocking his ears.

Then He spit and touched his tongue, indicating that the Word of God will be placed on his tongue.

When the Word of God is placed, the power of God will drive out the demons that are tying his tongue, and with the spirit of God acting on his lips, it will make him know how to praise and give thanks to God. And when he hears the voice of God and continuously glorifies God with thanksgiving, then the demons will have to leave this person.

Today, God uses The House of God the Father in Bao Loc to bestow His Holy Spirit upon Chu Thien Thuong, the priests, and those chosen to lay hands, heal the sick, and drive out demons from those who know how to come to ask for God's mercy.

Today, God revealed, that man is not the only person who is deaf and has a speech impediment. There are many people in this world who are deaf as well as have a speech impediment.

It is God's desire that every day we wake up we come before His Holy Presence and pray to Him:

"Lord, please open my mouth and my ears, Please cast out the demons from my ears and mouth, so that I can listen to Your Word and proclaim Your praises, and give thanks to You for always having mercy on us."

Thanks be to God. Amen.