Bless the Lord

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall be ever in my mouth.” There is a huge but such an amazing tremendous word that Jesus uses in scripture, and we celebrate in the rite and holy celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, “Ephphatha!” It means, “Be opened!” It refers to the incident and encounter of a man who was unable to hear and had a speech impediment. His family and friends brought him to Jesus and literally begged Jesus to lay his hand on him to free and cure him. We hear and experience the personal intimacy of Jesus taking the man off to the side to be away from the noisy crowd and be intimately present to the One who could heal him and set him free. We experience the personal touch of God.  It is personal, intimate. A touch that not only moves one’s heart but also moves impediments and those things that keep us from hearing and speaking with God. The gentle touch and yolk of God that removes all obstacles and frees us from the chains that bind and shackle us from the personal, direct and intimate contact with our Creator.

Note the personal touch Jesus has with the Father as He looked up into heaven, into the Father’s eyes, directly into His heart and Jesus groans, and says “Ephphatha!” And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his hearing restored, his speech impediment was removed, his mouth opened, and he spoke plainly giving glory and praise to God. That is the gift of God and of such a powerful word that really cannot describe the compassion that touched and moved the Sacred Heart of Jesus to look so tenderly in the eyes and heart of the Father and beg that this poor child of God be released from the yolk that prevented him from an intimate union and holy communion with God. Imagine, not being able to hear God or being able to speak directly to him. At baptism, our ears were touched by Jesus to listen to God’s voice and our mouths to proclaim his praise. How often we misuse the gift entrusted to us. Rather than blessing God, at times we use his name in vain. Rather than thanking and praising God, we curse him and blaspheme his Holy Name. Rather than magnify and rejoice in the Lord like our Mother Mary, we speak ill of God and even blame him for our misconduct and misdeeds. Rather than speaking bad of others, bless God instead.