Hearts…Be Opened!

Friday, February 9, 2024

1 Kgs 11:29-32;12:19; Mk 7:31-37

Today’s Gospel lets us see the humanity of Jesus, especially as he is moved by a person’s suffering. 

We might often think that deafness is less severe than blindness. 

However, the struggle with deafness is deeply emotional and psychological. 

The deaf suffer from shame and ridicule like no other. Just because they cannot hear, the deaf are ‘spoken about’ as if they were never around. 

Modern psychology highlights that people with hearing loss are at a higher risk of developing depression and experiencing suicidal thoughts. 

Having hearing loss has been described as an invisible handicap, especially in the social realm. In fact, Helen Keller once said that deafness cuts one off from people, whereas blindness cuts one off from things. 

Hence, Jesus’ healing of the deaf man has to be understood from the point of view of a person who suffers social isolation, disgrace, and humiliation on a daily basis. 

The detailed description of healing and Jesus’ attitude toward the person who is subject to this shame and ridicule is amazing. 

The healing is yet another instance of Jesus recognizing the divine in the deaf man, who also suffered from a speech impediment. He could speak but could not hear his own voice. 

Jesus’ groan, which means ‘a loud cry in response to pain or despair’ uttering the word ‘Ephphatha’ (be opened), is not just for the deaf man’s ears to be opened but for our hearts to be opened as well. 

Let our hearts ‘be opened’ to embrace the suffering humanity. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar