The
story is told of a man who was driving his black Range Rover one
beautiful and sunny day up a steep narrow mountain road in the Rocky
Mountains. A woman was driving her silver Lexus down the same steep
narrow mountain road on that beautiful and sunny day. As the two
vehicles passed each other, the woman leaned out of the window and
appeared to the man to be shaking her fist at him and yelling,
“PIG!!” Instantaneously, the man leaned out of his window, pointed
one of his digits upward at the woman, and screamed a truly awful
word, describing the woman as a female dog. As both continued along
their way in opposite directions—the man up the mountain in his
black Range Rover and woman down the mountain in her silver
Lexus—the man rounded the next sharp curve in the road and, sure as
shootin’, he hit a pig that was standing there smack dab in the
middle of the road.
The
moral of the story?
“If
men would only listen to the woman in their lives who is yelling and
appears to be shaking their fists at them.”
In
the gospel just proclaimed, a voice came from heaven saying, “This
is my beloved…with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). While
God was neither yelling from the heavens nor shaking his almighty
arm, do you think Jesus heard those words? Do you think Jesus
listened to them?
I
certainly think so.
But, did you know that God has said the same thing about you and
me? God has called us His “beloved…with whom I am well pleased.”
Did you hear those words when God spoke them? Did you listen to
God’s word?
Because so much in our lives conspires to make us deaf to God’s
word, I think the answer to those questions for many of us is, “No.”
In
the gospel story of the miraculous healing of the deaf man (Mark
7:32-34), Jesus made what was impossible—a deaf man to
hear—possible—a man to hear and to listen. That story says:
They brought to Jesus a deaf man who had an impediment in his
speech; and they begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. Jesus took
him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into
his ears, and Jesus spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to
heaven, Jesus sighed and said to the deaf man, “Ephatha,”
that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his
tongue was released, and the man spoke plainly.
“Ephatha,”
that is, “be opened.”
In
the Sacrament of Baptism, the priest anoints the ears of the person
being baptized, symbolizing the opening of the sense of spiritual
hearing that will make the newly-baptized capable of hearing and,
then, listening to the Spirit of God within. The “Ephatha of
Baptism,” as it is called, frees up that inner sense of spiritual
hearing in order that the baptized—that is, ordinary people like you
and me—will hear and listen to the Spirit of God within and,
hopefully, will respond wholeheartedly to it. “This is my
beloved…in whom I am well pleased.” The Sacrament of Baptism, as we
practice it in the Catholic Church, then, has opened for all of us a
way to develop and strengthen our ability to hear and to listen to
the Spirit of God within.
When God created us in cooperation with our parents, God breathed
His divine spirit into us, what Eastern Christians call the “divine
image and likeness,” making us an “icon” of God. The Book of
Genesis tell us that this “breath of God”— which makes us God’s
“beloved”—transformed what otherwise would have been, at a minimum,
an animal and, a bit better, a rational animal. It made us like
God, each of whom possess a mystery within that we must correctly
decipher to live as God created us, that is, if we are to bring to
fulfillment what God has breathed into us—that which makes God “well
pleased.” To hear God say, “This is my beloved…in whom I am well
pleased” is to be fulfilled beyond our wildest imaginings as we
experience the peace and happiness which St. Paul says is “beyond
all understanding” (Philemon 4:7).
This “inner law of creation” doesn’t help us to survive. No, it
enables us to become that unique and unrepeatable individual in all
of human history that God has created with a particular purpose,
what Pope John Paul II called a “personal vocation.” We’re not here
due to some random fluctuation that caused one sperm to beat out all
of those other sperms to fertilize some lucky ovum. No, the inner
law of creation set into motion something that God has intended from
the beginning. Then, as we become what God intended for us, that is
where we discover our true peace and happiness. That is, as we are
transformed into that icon of God, a person who is hears and listens
to the Spirit of God within, we become that revelation of God—like
Jesus the only begotten Son of God—for all the world to behold.
“This is my beloved…in whom I am well pleased.”
What happens to us more often than not, however, is that we don’t
hear God saying “This is my beloved” because we’re too busy looking
for peace and happiness everywhere but in the divine life that God
has already been breathed into us. Many of us become deaf because
we look for peace and happiness in material possessions, in power,
in careers, and in being self-determining and autonomous human
beings who are answerable only to ourselves. As our deafness
increases, we find ourselves hurting because we don’t experience the
peace and happiness we long for in chasing after and, then,
possessing all of those things. So, having become incapable of
hearing the word of God, we then look for peace and happiness by
anesthetizing the frustration, pain, and unhappiness that is
attributable to our wandering further and further away from God.
And so, it is not unusual that people who are following this path
end up seeking comfort as they fulfill their anesthetizing
addictions, including the use of drugs, narcotics, alcohol, and
illicit sexual expression, to name a few that are prevalent today.
Sadly, the simple fact is that all of us in some way—for some of us,
in greater ways, and for others of us, in lesser ways—have cluttered
our lives with so many distractions that we do are incapable of
hearing what God is saying. We become so busy with so many things,
like Martha, that we don’t do the one thing that is necessary, like
Mary (Luke 10:41-42).
Yet, no matter how deaf we’ve grown, the Spirit of God breathed into
us when God created us continues to speak to us, reminding us that
“This is my beloved…in whom I am well pleased.”
All
of us have grown deaf in one degree or another to the divine life
that God has already breathed into us. How might we put aside all
of those distractions and become better acquainted with our inner,
spiritual—our divine—life? The answer is simple: all we need to do
is to hear the word of God and, then, listen to it. Now, that’s
something easier said than done, especially with all of the
distractions around us making us deaf to God’s word.
A
good place to start, believe it or not, is by re-familiarizing
ourselves to the ten most important lessons concerning how to lead a
truly happy life, what are called the “Ten Commandments.”
The
first three commandments remind us of the value of recognizing that
we are creatures not the Creator. We subjects, not
sovereigns—creatures of the Creator—whose purpose is to be obedient
not obstinate. Did you hear? Are you listening? “Ephatha,”
that is “be opened.” Love of God comes first. “This is my
beloved…in whom I am well pleased.” Someone who is obedient not
obdurate.
The
fourth and sixth commandments focus upon the human body and, in
particular, the value of the parents and family as well as of the
value of the body, sexuality, and faithful love. Happiness is
discovered when we are respectful not abusive of our parents, our
bodies, and the wonderful and mysterious physical, spiritual, and
moral powers God has endowed us with. Did you hear? Are you
listening? “Ephatha,” that is “be opened.” Honor your
parents and members of your family. Being modest and chaste makes
you beautiful. “This is my beloved…in whom I am well pleased.” An
individual who respects and is not abusive of others and oneself.
The
fifth commandment points to the value of all human life. We are to
honor not disgrace each other from the moment of conception to
natural death. Did you hear? All human life is precious in God’s
eyes. Are you listening? “Ephatha,” that is “be opened.”
“This is my beloved…in whom I am well pleased.” A person who is
honorable not disgraceful in one’s dealings with others.
The
seventh commandment speaks about the value of being satisfied with
our material possessions and, in short, of being satisfied when we
possess everything we need: the basics of food, shelter, clothing,
and belonging to a family. Did you ever reflect upon how screwed up
things become in life simply because we want what we don’t need and
sometimes so much so that we actually believe that what others
possess belongs to us? Did you hear? Are you listening? “Ephatha,”
that is “be opened.” Be satisfied that you have what you
need. Everything else is gravy, not the main course. “This is my
beloved…in whom I am well pleased.” Someone who is grateful to
possess what one needs and does not make his own what belongs to
others.
The
eighth commandment reminds us of the value of truth and of being
truthful. It doesn’t take a doctoral degree from a highly-reputed
university to know that dishonesty engenders mistrust, hostility,
and, ultimately, the breakdown of good order in our relationships,
our homes, and our world as well. Did you hear? Are you
listening? “Ephatha,” that is “be opened.” Just as
God’s word is trustworthy, so must your word be trustworthy. “This
is my beloved…in whom I am well pleased.” An individual who speaks
the truth and is not deceitful in his dealings with others.
The
ninth and ten commandments describe the value of respecting what
belongs to others. While the seventh commandment concerns
theft—appropriating to ourselves what belongs others—the ninth and
tenth commandments concern avarice—the desire to possess—which, left
unchecked, can end in theft. Think about how the unbridled desire
to possess the latest, the greatest, and the best can transform us
in such ways that we treat material things and people, too, as if
they are disposable commodities. So, we when we see all of our
neighbor’s gadgets, toys, and gizmos, we allow ourselves to become
frustrated with our possessions and we say to ourselves and
sometimes, to others: “I’ve gotta have this. I can’t live without
it.” Frustrated with our spouse, we all our eye to wander and we
start desiring our neighbor’s spouse. Do you hear? Are you
listening? “Ephatha,” that is “be opened.” Thinking
that nothing we possess is ever good enough and the grass is always
greener on the other side of the fence actually makes us dependent
upon those things and people. “This is my beloved…in whom I am well
pleased. Someone who is happy with his blessings and respectful of
how God has blessed others.
If
you’ve noticed, the values embodied in the Ten Commandments reveal
how unhappy we become when we believe ourselves greater than our
Creator. We believe the world is our “oyster,” something that
belongs to us and God help anyone who would get in our way. In this
arbitrary and egotistical world, there is no light and hope because
we have grown deaf to the Spirit of God breathed into us when God
created us and freed from within when the priest said “Ephatha”—“be
opened”—at our baptism. Then, because we do not hear, we cannot
listen. And, because we cannot listen, we do not live by the values
embodied in the Ten Commandments and experience darkness and
despair.
So,
assuming we are willing to hear the Spirit of God within, how do we
then become good listeners?
The
answer is simple, “Ephatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Allow the
God’s word to open our spiritual ears to God’s truth and love and
invite the power of God’s grace to unleash God’s word so that we may
live the values embodied in the Ten Commandments. All it takes on
our part is to desire to be obedient, respectful, honorable,
grateful, truthful, and thankful.
“Ephatha,”
that is, “Be opened.” Jesus’ words are significant and
instructive—yesterday, today and tomorrow. And, when our ears are
opened and we listen to the Spirit of God within, God says of us as
he said of Jesus: “This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased”
(Mathew 3:17).
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Lent
is just around the corner, beginning on Wednesday, February 6th!
Each
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resurrection of Christ on Easter morning.
Grandparents might consider purchasing a copy for themselves and
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