20260213 EPHPHATHA, BE OPENED
13 February 2026, Friday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Kings 11:29-32,12:19 |
Solomon is unfaithful; the Lord moderates his wrath
One day when Jeroboam had gone out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh accosted him on the road. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak; the two of them were in the open country by themselves. Ahijah took the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve strips, saying to Jeroboam, ‘Take ten strips for yourself, for thus the Lord speaks, the God of Israel, “I am going to tear the kingdom from Solomon’s hand and give ten tribes to you. He shall keep one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.’
And Israel has been separated from the House of David until the present day.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 80(81):10-15 |
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
Let there be no foreign god among you,
no worship of an alien god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you from the land of Egypt.
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
But my people did not heed my voice
and Israel would not obey,
so I left them in their stubbornness of heart
to follow their own designs.
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
O that my people would heed me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
At once I would subdue their foes,
turn my hand against their enemies.
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Jn6:63,68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 7:31-37 |
'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'
Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’
EPHPHATHA, BE OPENED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Kgs 11:29-32; 12:19; Ps 81:10-15; Mk 7:31-37]
As the pace of life becomes faster each day, there is a real danger that we are no longer able to hear one another clearly. We are all so busy with our own lives, rushing from one activity to another, that we no longer have time to listen to our loved ones, our friends, and our colleagues. Most of all, we do not find time to listen to ourselves, to our bodies, and to God. By not listening, we gradually lose touch with life and with people. We begin to live in our own world, thinking and believing that this is the only world that exists, and assuming that others think the same way we do. To know ourselves, to know God, and to understand life, it is important that we learn how to feel with others and to listen to them attentively.
That was how Jesus conducted His ministry. Jesus was always sensitive to the feelings of people, especially those to whom He ministered. When a leper approached Him for healing, Jesus was “moved with pity, stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!'” (Mk 1:41). When Peter’s mother-in-law “was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once, he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up” (Mk 1:30). This was despite the fact that He had just finished preaching in the synagogue and casting out an unclean spirit. Earlier still, just before today’s incident, Jesus healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman who was possessed by a demon. He was sensitive to her cry for help even though He had wished to remain unnoticed. Jesus consistently placed the needs of others before His own convenience.
In today’s Gospel, we have another account of Jesus healing a deaf man, again from the Gentile region of the Decapolis. “They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosened, and he spoke clearly.” One might wonder why Jesus went through such deliberate steps when He could have healed the man from a distance, as He did with the centurion’s servant (Lk 7:1-10). It was certainly not because Jesus needed these actions in order to heal him.
Rather, Jesus understood and felt with the deaf man in his situation. Firstly, a deaf man would not have been able to hear what Jesus wanted to say to him, and even after hearing, he might have felt embarrassed to speak because his words were not easily formed. Understanding his predicament and lack of confidence, Jesus took him aside from the crowd so that he would not feel exposed or embarrassed. Secondly, by putting His fingers into the man’s ears, Jesus communicated in a way the man could understand that healing was about to take place. By touching his tongue with spittle, He indicated that the impediment to speech was being removed. Finally, by looking up to heaven and sighing before saying, “Ephphatha,” Jesus made clear that the healing came from God. In other words, the man was being opened not only to hearing and speech, but also to God’s word and healing grace.
Immediately, “his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened, and he spoke clearly.” The reaction of the crowd was one of admiration. “Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said; ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.'” They could not keep silent about the marvellous miracle they had witnessed, even though Jesus “ordered them to tell no one about it; but the more he insisted, the more widely they proclaimed it.” Truly, Jesus was not merely a miracle healer. He was a man deeply in touch with the physical and emotional sufferings of humanity. Being a good doctor in terms of medical skill alone is not enough; true healing also comes from empathy and compassion.
In truth, by restoring the man, Jesus did more than restore his ability to hear and speak. The healing symbolically expressed that Jesus had come to restore creation to what it was meant to be when God first created the world. Because of sin, humanity had lost its integrity and the preternatural gifts bestowed by God. For this reason, Mark’s account of the restoration of the man’s hearing and speech alludes to the work of God in creation, when after each day, “God saw that it was good” (cf. Gn 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 24). In doing so, Jesus reveals the beauty of creation and teaches us how we should mediate the love of God through the realities of created life. God became man so that we might encounter Him in Christ. Our encounter with God remains sacramental because we are not pure spirits.
In contrast, Rehoboam, who succeeded Solomon, was disconnected from his people. Solomon had initiated many large projects, from building works and the repair of the walls of Jerusalem to the construction of reservoirs and temples. Jeroboam was a capable and respected man, and Solomon placed him in charge of the labour force of the house of Joseph. As a result, his close ties with the northern tribes later gave him the power base to rebel against Rehoboam, bringing an end to the rule of the Davidic dynasty over Northern Israel. The main reason for the dissatisfaction among the people of the Northern Kingdom was the inequality practiced during Solomon’s reign, as the southerners were not conscripted for the labour demanded by these projects. This caused resentment in the north toward the south and particularly toward King Solomon.
When Rehoboam ascended the throne, God revealed to Jeroboam that he would one day have his own kingdom. The punishment foretold to Solomon for turning away from the Lord to worship false gods was about to take effect after his death (cf. 1 Kgs 11:11-13). Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh took a new cloak and met Jeroboam outside Jerusalem. He tore the cloak into twelve pieces, gave Jeroboam ten pieces, and explained that Israel would be divided. The descendants of David from the tribe of Judah would retain one additional tribe, Benjamin, while Jeroboam would govern the remaining ten tribes. Thus, Israel remained in the Promised Land, but now in a divided and weakened state.
Again, this situation could have been prevented if Rehoboam had been more sympathetic to the dissatisfaction of the people from the Northern Tribes. He handled the situation badly. He failed to feel with the people who were angered by the king’s double standard policy of forced labour. Instead of listening to the elders, who were more experienced in dealing with the people and who advised Rehoboam to accede to the demands of the Northern tribes by lightening their burdens in building the southern projects, he took the advice of the younger counsellors of his own age. “‘If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.’ But he disregarded the advice that the older men gave him and consulted with the young men who had grown up with him and now attended him.” (1 Kgs 12:7f) They were young and did not understand the challenges that the people from the Northern tribes were facing. Being ambitious, proud, insecure, and having an entitlement mentality, they advised Rehoboam to put the crowd in its place. Instead of embracing servant leadership, he used his authority to compel the people to serve him. He was harsh with them for making their demands known to him.
The lack of sensitivity and poor judgment caused the people to rebel against Rehoboam. Without hesitation, the people rejected his authority over them. They renounced any responsibility to David’s dynasty and left Rehoboam to rule Judah alone. As a result of his miscalculation of the people’s anger, the kingdom broke apart. Rehoboam fled for his life, and Jeroboam was chosen by the people to be king in the north, and thus God’s word was fulfilled. It is a lesson for us as well that the only way to govern people is through servant leadership. Leaders are meant to be at the service of the people; this is the proper relationship between leaders and those they serve. The moment a leader begins to work for himself, using the people for his own interests and ambitions, the people will rebel, and credibility and authority to rule will eventually be lost. Indeed, we must always be like our Lord who came to serve and to walk with us. He came to heal us and to restore us to wholeness. Jesus redefined power and leadership as service to all. (cf. Mk 10:42-44)
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
