Back when I
was working, my friend (and boss) Todd and I had to make frequent business
trips out of town. As was often the
case, we’d get our work conversations out of the way first, then we would talk about
our families and the daily triumphs and struggles attendant to those. He’s not a “religious” man, but he does
believe in God. I have a feeling he’s
“searching” for answers, but not aggressively.
We used to talk and laugh about and pray earnestly for our families,
especially our children and grandchildren.
One time, he brought up a topic that reminded me of that day’s Gospel
that dealt with forgiveness. That got me
started on a 30-minute discourse about forgiveness and mercy and how I needed
to work on my lack of both to others who I feel have hurt me or my family or my
friends, whether in a big way or a small way.
The next
day, when our business was concluded, I was tapped to drive a different vehicle
back to the office and Todd was to follow me.
He said, “It’s going to be a long drive back without someone to talk to.
No offense, but I like your occasional
“sermons”. They always get me thinking about how I can
improve myself.” I didn’t respond. I didn’t think I had said anything special the
day before. I had just explained my
understanding of the Gospel that I received through my Catholic faith and my
relationship with the Holy Spirit. I
told him that any good that came out of our conversation would have to be
credited to the Holy Spirit, because I was just relaying what I was inspired to
say, without any foreknowledge we were even going to have the conversation.
I thought of
this episode today when I read the story of Jesus healing a deaf man who also
had a speech impediment. The man was
brought to Jesus, Jesus took him off by himself, cried out “Ephphatha!”
(that is, “Be opened!”), and the man was cured [Mark 7:31-37]. And though this was an incredible gift to this
man and an act of great mercy toward him, it also reveals that God wants to use
us to draw others to Himself.
On a natural
level, we all lack the ability to hear the voice of God when He speaks. We need the gift of grace for this. As a result, on a natural level, we are also
incapable of speaking the many truths that God wants us to speak. This story teaches us that God also desires to
heal our ears so as to hear His gentle voice and to loosen our tongues so that
we can become His mouthpiece.
But this
story is not only about God speaking to each one of us; it also reveals our
duty to bring others to Christ who do not know Him. The friends of this man brought him to Jesus. And Jesus took the man off by himself. This gives us insight into how we help others
to come to know our Lord’s voice. Oftentimes
when we want to share the Gospel with another, we tend to talk to them and try
to rationally convince them to turn their lives to Christ. And though this can bear good fruit at times,
the real goal we must have is to help them to go off with our Lord by
themselves for a while so that Jesus can do the healing.
If your ears
have truly been opened by our Lord, then your tongue will also be loosened. And only if your tongue is loosened will God
be able to draw others to Himself through you. Otherwise your act of evangelizing will only
be based on your effort alone. Therefore,
if you have people in your life who don’t appear to be listening to the voice
of God and following His holy will, then first and foremost commit yourself to
listening to our Lord yourself. Let your
ears hear Him. And when you do hear Him,
it will be His voice that, in turn, speaks through you in the way He desires to
reach out to others.
My good
Jesus, please open my ears to hear all that You wish to say to me and please
loosen my tongue so that I will become a mouthpiece of Your holy word to
others. I offer myself to You for Your glory and pray that You will use me in
accord with Your holy will. Jesus, I fully trust in You.
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