Ephpheta
Ludvig Van Beethoven was a German-born musician. He is regarded as one of the greatest classical composers like Mozart. By his 20s he was considered a brilliant virtuoso pianist in Europe. By his 30s, he composed piano concertos, 6 string quartet and his first symphony. Everything was moving towards a long, successful career ahead.
But one day, began to hear buzzing and ringing sounds in his ears. His hearing was steadily growing weaker. During orchestra practices he had to stay close to the performers; he couldn’t hear when people spoke softly. He kept it secret for three years because it meant the ruin of his career in music. Sadly, at 44 years old, he was completely deaf. There were many theories why – some say lead poisoning, typhus or his habit of throwing his head into cold water to be awake.
Yet some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life despite being deaf. His most famous composition is the 5thSymphony. Its opening motif is the door knocking. He describes it as ‘fate knocking at the door.’ The cruel hearing loss that he feared would afflict him for the rest of his life.
Being deaf or blind or any physical deficiency is really tough and difficult. In today’s gospel (Mk 7:31-37), it narrates the cure of a deaf and mute man. It shows the care and compassion of Jesus. When he touched his tongue and prayed: Ephpheta, meaning ‘be opened. ’ He was cured. He could hear and speak again. The crowd were so amazed. They declared: “he has done all things well!” They gave Jesus the highest grade: excellent.
Here Jesus repairs a broken person. He can also repair a broken humanity; can make things new. Jesus is a fixer; a trouble-shooter; a mender. Jesus can mend ears, eyes, hearts even broken pieces of our lives. Jesus can make us whole and make us well.
Today, our prayer is also: Ephpheta. Be opened. Be unlocked.
We pray that we too can open our ears, our eyes and our hearts. We ask the Lord: Lord, open our eyes. We can be blinded when we don’t see others or don’t see God working in our lives. We suffer from spiritual nearsightedness; you’re able to see the tiny details of your life but fail to look upward or outward and miss the big picture; what God wants to do with your life for others.
Lord, open our ears. We can be deaf. We struggle to hear because you just listen to yourself and your own opinions. We can be selective in listening; or listen to what we like or what we want to hear. We can learn from the boy Samuel’s prayer: Speak Lord, your servant is listening.
Lord, open our hearts. We can deliberately close our hearts. It means giving God permission to take control; have access to all the rooms of our hearts; hand him the keys of your life. We surrender. We are familiar with the story of Christ knocking at the door of each heart. But our heart is a strange. It has no door knob. It can’t be opened from outside; only form within.
Today, our prayer is ephpheta. Let us make a generous choice to allow God to open our eyes, our ears, our hearts, our very life. . Lord, take away my deafness, my blindness, my selfishness. Amen.
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