Speak plainly

“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.” (MK 7: 32-35)

Sometimes we experience a different kind of “speech impediment.” The same thing happened to the man from today’s Gospel: “people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment”; Our Lord first “put his finger into man’s ears” and second “touched his tongue.” Regarding our problems with communication, with “a speech impediment,” we should start to solve them with our ability to listen with respect and to try to understand more than to be understood—when “the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.”

“Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the kingdom and cured every disease among the people.” (Gospel Acclamation)