Ephphatha Mk 7:31-37

A welcome for the Retreat from the Parish of Saint Bernadette's, Erskine.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

“Ephphatha!”

Mk 7:31-37

St. Thomas Aquinas,

Catena Aurea (Golden Chain),

Mark 7 31-37

31. And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

32. And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, 142 and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put His hand upon him.

33. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers into his ears, and He spit, and touched His tongue;

34. And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”

35. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

36. And He charged them that they should tell no man: but the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;

37. And were beyond measure astonished, saying, “He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”

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Theophylact: The Lord did not wish to stay in the parts of the Gentiles, lest He should give the Jews occasion to say, that they esteemed Him a transgressor of the law, because He held communion with the Gentiles, and therefore He immediately returns.

Wherefore it is said, “And again departing from the coasts of Tyre, He came through Sidon, to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.”

Bede, in Marc., 2, 31: Decapolis is a region of ten cities, across the Jordan, to the east, over against Galilee [ed. note: It appears, however, from Reland, Pales. v.1, p198, that a portion of Decapolis, including its metropolis, Scythopolis, was on this side Jordan, and therefore this text of St. Mark may be taken literally.] When therefore it is said that the Lord came to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis, it does not mean that He entered the confines of Decapolis themselves; for He is not said to have crossed the sea, but rather to have come to the borders of the sea, and to have reached quite up to the place, which was opposite to the midst of the coasts of Decapolis, which were situated at a distance across the sea.

It goes on, “And they bring Him one that was deaf and dumb, and they besought Him to lay hands upon him.”

Theophylact: Which is rightly placed after the deliverance of one possessed with a 143 devil, for such an instance of suffering came from the devil.

There follows, “And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers into his ears.”

Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: He takes the deaf and dumb man who was brought to Him apart from the crowd, that He might not do His divine miracles openly; teaching us to cast away vain glory and swelling of heart, for no one can work miracles as he can, who loves humility and is lowly in his conduct. But He puts His fingers into his ears, when He might have cured him with a word, to shew that His body, being united to Deity, was consecrated by Divine virtue, with all that He did. For since on account of the transgression of Adam, human nature had incurred much suffering and hurt in its members and senses, Christ coming into the world shewed the perfection of human nature in Himself, and on this account opened ears, with His fingers, and gave the power of speech by His spittle.

Wherefore it goes on, “And spit, and touched his tongue.”

Theophylact: That He might shew that all the members of His sacred body are divine and holy, even the spittle which loosed the string of the tongue. For the spittle is only the superflous moisture of the body, but in the Lord, all things are divine.

It goes on, “And looking up to heaven, He groaned, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.”

Bede: He looked up to heaven, that He might teach us that thence is to be procured speech for the dumb, hearing for the deaf, health for all who are sick. And He sighed, not that it was necessary for Him to be any thing from His Father with groaning, for He, together with the Father, gives all things to them who ask, but that He might give us an example of sighing, when for our own errors and those of our neighbours, we invoke the guardianship of the Divine mercy.

Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: He at the same time also groaned, as taking our cause upon Himself and pitying human nature, seeing the misery into which it had fallen.

Bede: But that which He says, “Ephphatha, that is, Be opened,” belong properly to the ears, for the ears are to be opened for hearing, but the tongue to be loosed from the bonds of its impediment, that is may be able to speak.

Wherefore it goes on, “And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.”

Where each nature of one and the same Christ 144 is manifestly distinct, looking up indeed into Heaven as man, praying unto God, He groaned, but presently with one word, as being strong in the Divine Majesty, He healed.

It goes on, “And He charged them that they should tell no man.”

Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.: By which He has taught us not to boast in our powers, but in the cross and humiliation. He also bade them conceal the miracle, lest He should excite the Jews by envy to kill Him before the time.

Pseudo-Jerome: A city, however, placed on a hill cannot be hid, and lowliness always comes before glory.

Wherefore it goes on, “but the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it.”

Theophylact: By this we are taught, when we confer benefits on any, by no means to seek for applause and praise; but when we have received benefits, to proclaim and praise our benefactors, even though they be unwilling.

Augustine: If however He, as one Who knew the present and the future wills of men, knew that they would proclaim Him the more in proportion as He forbade them, why did He give them this command? If it were not that He wished to prove to men who are idle, how much more joyfully, with how much greater obedience, they whom He commands to proclaim Him should preach, when they who were forbidden could not hold their peace.

Gloss.: From the preaching however of those who were healed by Christ, the wonder of the multitude, and their praise of the benefits of Christ, increased.

Wherefore it goes on, “And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”

Pseudo-Jerome: Mystically, Tyre is interpreted, narrowness, and signifies Judaea, to which the Lord said, “For the bed is grown too narrow,” [Isa 28:20] and from which He turns Himself to the Gentiles. Sidon means, hunting, for our race is like an untamed beast, and “sea”, which means a wavering inconstancy. Again, the Saviour comes to save the Gentiles in the midst of the coasts of Decapolis, which may be interpreted, as the commands of the Decalogue.

Further, the human race throughout its many members is reckoned as one man, eaten up by varying pestilence, in the first created man; it is blinded, that is, its eye is evil; it becomes deaf, when it listens to, and dumb when it speaks, evil. And they prayed Him to lay His hand upon him, because many just men, and 145 patriarchs, wished and longed for the time when the Lord should come in the flesh.

Bede: Or he is deaf and dumb, who neither has ears to hear the words of God, nor opens his mouth to speak them, and such must be presented to the Lord for healing, by men who have already learned to hear and speak the divine oracles.

Pseudo-Jerome: Further, he who obtains healing is always drawn aside from turbulent thoughts, disorderly actions, and incoherent speeches. And the fingers which are put into the ears are the words and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, “This is the finger of God.” [Ex 8:19; Luke 11:20]

The spittle is heavenly wisdom, which loosens the sealed lips of the human race, so that it can say, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and the rest of the Creed. “And looking up to heaven, he groaned,” that is, He taught us to groan, and to raise up the treasures of our hearts to the heavens; because by the groaning of hearty compunction, the silly joy of the flesh is purged away. But the ears are opened to hymns, and songs, and psalms; and He looses the tongue, that it may pour forth the good word, which neither threats nor stripes can restrain

Lectionary

Central

for the study and use of the traditional Western Eucharistic lectionary

A very useful reference:

http://www.lectionarycentral.com/trinity12/CatenaAurea.html

BVM First Saturday

Vigil Reading Saturday: Blessed Virgin of Mary

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION FOR THE RIGHT ORDERING AND DEVELOPMENT OF DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

MARIALIS CULTUS

OF HIS HOLINESS PAUL VI, FEBRUARY 2, 1974

19. Mary is also the Virgin-Mother -- she who "believing and obeying...brought forth on earth the Father's Son. This she did, not knowing man but overshadowed by the Holy Spirit."[52] This was a miraculous motherhood, set up by God as the type and exemplar of the fruitfulness of the Virgin-Church, which "becomes herself a mother.... For by her preaching and by baptism she brings forth to a new and immortal life children who are conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of God."[53] The ancient Fathers rightly taught that the Church prolongs in the sacrament of Baptism the virginal motherhood of Mary. Among such references we like to recall that of our illustrious predecessor, Saint Leo the Great, who in a Christmas homily says: "The origin which [Christ] took in the womb of the Virgin He has given to the baptismal font: He has given to water what He had given to His Mother -- the power of the Most High and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk. 1:35), which was responsible for Mary's bringing forth the Savior, has the same effect, so that water may regenerate the believer."[54] If we wished to go to liturgical sources, we could quote the beautiful Illatio of the Mozarabic liturgy: "The former [Mary] carried Life in her womb; the latter [the Church] bears Life in the waters of baptism. In Mary's members Christ was formed; in the waters of the Church Christ is put on."[55]

20. Mary is, finally, the Virgin presenting offerings. In the episode of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (cf. Lk. 2:22-35), the Church, guided by the Spirit, has detected, over and above the fulfillment of the laws regarding the offering of the firstborn (cf. Ex. 13:11-16) and the purification of the mother (cf. Lv. 12:6-8), a mystery of salvation related to the history of salvation. That is, she has noted the continuity of the fundamental offering that the Incarnate Word made to the Father when He entered the world (cf. Heb. 15:5-7). The Church has seen the universal nature of salvation proclaimed, for Simeon, greeting in the Child the light to enlighten the peoples and the glory of the people Israel (cf. Lk. 2:32), recognized in Him the Messiah, the Savior of all. The Church has understood the prophetic reference to the Passion of Christ: the fact that Simeon's words, which linked in one prophecy the Son as "the sign of contradiction" (Lk. 2:34) and the Mother, whose soul would be pierced by a sword (cf. Lk. 2:35), came true on Calvary. A mystery of salvation, therefore, that in its various aspects orients the episode of the Presentation in the Temple to the salvific event of the cross. But the Church herself, in particular from the Middle Ages onwards, has detected in the heart of the Virgin taking her Son to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (cf. Lk. 2:22) a desire to make an offering, a desire that exceeds the ordinary meaning of the rite. A witness to this intuition is found in the loving prayer of Saint Bernard: "Offer your Son, holy Virgin, and present to the Lord the blessed fruit of your womb. Offer for the reconciliation of us all the holy Victim which is pleasing to God."[56]

This union of the Mother and the Son in the work of redemption[57] reaches its climax on Calvary, where Christ "offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God" (Heb. 9:14) and where Mary stood by the cross (cf. Jn. 19:25), "suffering grievously with her only-begotten Son. There she united herself with a maternal heart to His sacrifice, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim which she herself had brought forth"[58] and also was offering to the eternal Father.[59] To perpetuate down the centuries the Sacrifice of the Cross, the divine Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the memorial of His death and resurrection, and entrusted it to His spouse the Church,[60] which, especially on Sundays, calls the faithful together to celebrate the Passover of the Lord until He comes again.[61] This the Church does in union with the saints in heaven and in particular with the Blessed Virgin,[62] whose burning charity and unshakeable faith she imitates.

Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

4th September A Reading about the life of St Cuthbert.

Cuthbert was born in Northumbria about the year 634. We are told he had a normal and happy childhood, and was noted for his high spirits. As a lad tending sheep on the Lammermuir hills he had a vision: St Bede says that on the death of St Aidan, Cuthbert saw 'with his mind's eye a soul of exceeding brightness' being carried heavenwards by angels. Perhaps this had an influence on him when he later became a monk, probably in his late teens, at Melrose under St Eata. Cuthbert's years as a monk was filled with a great deal of apostolic activity.

He would often be away from his monastery for several weeks at a time, working to keep the spirit of the Gospel alive among the people of the remoter parts between Berwick and Galloway. (Present day Kirkcubright means ‘the Church of Cuthbert'). It was said that none could resist Cuthbert's winning manner, and no one could conceal from him their secret sins. When Cuthbert accompanied St Eata to Lindisfarne in 664, he extended his work southward to Northumberland and Durham.

In spite of his travels and apostolic work, Cuthbert was by nature a solitary. In 676 he retired to the desolate islet of Farne. But it was typical of Cuthbert that, when his solitude was disturbed by the many visitors who sought his advice, he built a house to accommodate them. He took it ‘to be another kind of prayer' if he could help others in their difficulties.

In 684 Cuthbert was called to be bishop of Hexham. Almost at once he exchanged his see with St Eata for that of Lindisfarne, and, as Bishop, he continued the same work among the people that he had done there before.

Cuthbert is of special appeal today because he was a man who had a great interest in the ways of birds and animals, as had St Godric, St Hugh, and St Francis. The ample sources we have of his life and character show us a man of extraordinary charm and of practical ability who profoundly moved people by the attraction of his holiness. It is not for nothing that Bede so often refers to him as 'the child of God'.

Cuthbert's life as a bishop was cut short by a premature death in 687. When he felt the end approaching he withdrew to his retreat on Farne. He died there during the night 'in the very act of praising God'.

Gregory the Great

03 September

SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT

Pope and Doctor of the Church

(540-604)

St. Gregory the Great's book The Pastoral Rule is a classic work on the ministry.

In The Pastoral Rule Gregory describes the priest’s responsibilities as a combination of the active life of pastoral administration and the prayerful life of the remote ascetic. Here is what he says:

The spiritual director should not reduce his attention to the internal life because of external occupations, nor should he relinquish his care for external matters because of his anxiety for the internal life. Otherwise, he will either ruin his meditation because he is occupied by external concerns or else he will not give to his neighbor what he owes to them because he has devoted himself to the inner life only.

The Pastoral Rule, Part II, Section 7

Month Commemoration of Deceased

Once a month, we keep a Day of Commemoration of those of the Order and relatives, friends and associates who have died.

This evening, I learned, of the death of Adrian, a member of a family associated, and we will remember him especially .

In the Vigil Reading, Romano Guardini deepens our faith in the vision of heaven

OFFICE OF THE DEAD-11 A Reading about Heaven, from a Book by Fr. Romano Guardini* WHEN is Heaven truly and completely present? When all heaviness is gone. When all sluggishness has been overcome, all wickedness, coldness, pride, irritation, disobedience, covetousness. When there is no danger any more of falling away. When grace has made one's whole being open up, body and soul, to the ultimate profundities. When there is no further danger that it will all close in again, become hardened in ways of evil. When all work to be done on earth is finished, and all guilt has been paid by repentance. What all this means is: After death. After death - when time is no longer; when everything is in the everlasting Now; when nothing can change any more, but the creature is standing illuminated by the light of eternity, before God - at that time, everything will be open, and will remain so. That is being in Heaven. The day He left this earth Jesus went to Heaven, His body and His soul. All earthly heaviness vanished. All limitations of being in this place or that place dropped away. Every burden of earthly need fell away. There was nothing more closed off; not even for the body. Everything was open. Everything about Him made its way in the overmastering presence of His Father. But here is the mystery: the very moment that He leaves us, He returns (Jn 14, 28): "I am going away" to the Father; but He added immediately "and coming back to you." And in Matthew (28, 20), He told them: "Behold I am with you all the days that are coming, until the consummation of the world." And the one statement is made true by the other. He went away from us, His body also, to Heaven, to the pure and open presence of His Father which He has directed towards us. He Who was the intermediary between the Father and ourselves, "the way, the truth and the life," has entered completely into this love. Now He is everywhere the Father's love is, and so He is with us. He is gone from the visible, transient here and now. But not from there, and because He is there, He can, through the love of the Father, be with each of us and with the Father also. He is within us, closing in upon us, bringing with Him the Presence of the Father, Heaven. "See where I stand at the door, knocking; if anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will core in to visit him, and make my supper with him, and he shall sup with re" (Ap. 3, 20). "Supper" is the extravagant superabundance of God's accessible Presence bursting in, blessed, satisfying, making drunk with all the drunkenness of love. This is how we properly understand Heaven: It is that close Presence wherein the Father stands in relation to Jesus Christ. And Heaven for us will be participation in this intimacy of love. This condition is already beginning; it approaches closer; now in peril, it is fought over, lost, won back again. So it goes with our Christian life. *Jesus Christus, Chicago 1959, 109-111.

Aidan Lindisfarne

Friends called this afrter noon.

The grand small child is called Aidan. And I was impressed how little Aidan enjoyed the motions at the steering wheel.

It was only Vespers that I found that tomorrow is the Calendar Date of Saint Aidan. The feast of St. Aidan will be celebrated during the Night Vigil and the Day.

Blessings for young Aidan.

St. Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne August 31st. Aidan, a monk of Iona, became the first bishop and abbot of Lindisfarne, an island off the coast of Northumberland, when he came to England in 635 A.D. Nothing is known of his early life except his Irish origin; Bede is virtually the only source. He died in 651 A.D. in Bamburgh and he was buried in the same year on Lindisfarne. Oswald, King of the Northumbrians, had been baptized when he was in banishment among the Scots" and when he was on the throne he sent to the elders of that nation for a Catholic Bishop. They sent him a man called Aidan, a monk of great meekness and godliness, from the monastery of St Columba on the island of Iona; and to him Oswald gave a Bishop's See on the island of Lindisfarne. Now Aidan could not speak English well, and when he was preaching the Gospel, there could often be seen the lovely spectacle of the king himself interpreting the heavenly word to his own officers and servants. Aidan had no thought of seeking or loving anything in this world. He went about everywhere on foot, and when he met any, if they were hea­thens, he entreated them to receive the sacraments of the faith; if they were faithful, he exhorted them to almsgiving and good works. It was from his example that the monks and nuns of that time took the custom of eating nothing until after three o'clock in the afternoon on all Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year except the fifty days of Paschaltime. In this man, said Bede, there are many things which I recommend for the imitation of my readers. He was a profound lover of peace and charity, of self-control, and of lowliness; his soul had risen above anger and avarice; he looked down upon pride and vainglory. He was very diligent in working and in teaching, firm as became a priest when it was his duty to rebuke the proud and mighty, very tender in comforting the sick and relieving the poor. In short, I may say, he never left anything undone which he knew from the Evangelists, or the Apostles, or the Prophets, that he ought to do. He died in the seventeenth year of his, episcopate, and was buried on the island of Lindisfarne on the right hand of the altar, as an honour due to such a Bishop. Sources: Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, Book Ill; cap. XVII. The Oxford Dict. of Saints by David Hugh Farmer.

John the Baptist - Herals of the Gospel

The Beheading of St John the Baptist

Is 49:1b-2

The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.

He made my mouth a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of his hand.

He made me into a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in his quiver.

On Thursday we had two gloriously robed Visitors in the regalia of the members of the Heralds of the Gospel.

They look quite splendid in their robes - they make the rest of us look tatty!

(See: Google Heralds of Gospel).

On the Memorial of the Beheading of John the Baptist we see the echoes of the new Evangelii Praecones, called the Heralds of the Gospel.

See below:

From a homily by St. Bede the Venerable, priest

Precursor of Christ in birth and death.

Heralds of the Gospel The Heralds of the Gospel (also known as the Evangelii Praecones, abbreviated to EP)[1] is a Roman Catholic International Association of Pontifical Right based in Brazil.[2] Founded by Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, the organization is active in fifty-seven countries.[3] The Heralds of the Gospel is an International Association of Pontifical Right, the first established by the Holy See in the third millennium, on the liturgical feast of the Chair of St. Peter, February 22nd, 2001. Comprised mainly of young people, this Association is established in 57 countries. Its members practice celibacy, and are entirely dedicated to apostolate, living in separate houses designated for young men and young women.Their life of recollection, study and prayer alternates with evangelizing activities in dioceses and parishes, with special emphasis placed on the formation of youth. Three essential pillars: The spirituality of the Heralds is based on three essential points: The Eucharist, the Virgin Mary and the Pope. These points are represented in the emblem that distinguishes them. Their charism leads them to strive for perfection, while always searching for the pulchritude in all their daily actions, even in the most private ones. Seeing in culture and art efficacious tools of evangelization, the Heralds characteristically place special emphasis on both choral and instrumental music. Hence, the Heralds have formed various choirs and symphonic bands to bring their message of faith, incentive and confidence to today’s humanity. The principal musical ensemble of these neo-evangelizers – the International Choir and Symphonic Band – was started in São Paulo with members united from diverse nations. This musical ensemble has traveled numerous cities, states, countries and continents, giving presentations in churches, auditoriums and stadiums full of people thirsting for beauty and spirituality. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From a homily by St. Bede the Venerable, priest

Precursor of Christ in birth and death

As forerunner of our Lord’s birth, preaching and death, the blessed John showed in his struggle a goodness worthy of the sight of heaven. In the words of Scripture: Though in the sight of men he suffered torments, his hope is full of immortality. We justly commemorate the day of his birth with a joyful celebration, a day which he himself made festive for us through his suffering and which he adorned with the crimson splendour of his own blood. We do rightly revere his memory with joyful hearts, for he stamped with the seal of martyrdom the testimony which he delivered on behalf of our Lord.

There is no doubt that blessed John suffered imprisonment and chains as a witness to our Redeemer, whose forerunner he was, and gave his life for him. His persecutor had demanded not that he should deny Christ, but only that he should keep silent about the truth. Nevertheless, he died for Christ. Does Christ not say: I am the truth? Therefore, because John shed his blood for the truth, he surely died for Christ.

Through his birth, preaching and baptising, he bore witness to the coming birth, preaching and baptism of Christ, and by his own suffering he showed that Christ also would suffer.

Such was the quality and strength of the man who accepted the end of this present life by shedding his blood after the long imprisonment. He preached the freedom of heavenly peace, yet was thrown into irons by ungodly men; he was locked away in the darkness of prison, though he came bearing witness to the Light of life and deserved to be called a bright and shining lamp by that Light itself, which is Christ. John was baptised in his own blood, though he had been privileged to baptise the Redeemer of the world, to hear the voice of the Father above him, and to see the grace of the Holy Spirit descending upon him. But to endure temporal agonies for the sake of the truth was not a heavy burden for such men as John; rather it was easily borne and even desirable, for he knew eternal joy would be his reward.

Since death was ever near at hand through the inescapable necessity of nature, such men considered it a blessing to embrace it and thus gain the reward of eternal life by acknowledging Christ’s name. Hence the apostle Paul rightly says: You have been granted the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake. He tells us why it is Christ’s gift that his chosen ones should suffer for him: The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.

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Concluding Prayer

O God, it was your will that John the Baptist should be your Son’s forerunner in both birth and death.

Just as he fell a martyr, witness to truth and righteousness,

so may we fight fiercely to proclaim your teaching.

Through our Lord . . .