Today is the twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Now that it’s after Labor Day and school is back in session it’s time to get back to work. OCIA classes have started and it’s even beginning to feel a bit more like fall even here in Alabama.
I hope you had a good summer. Connie and I went back to Michigan for a week. We’ve been going back to the same place, Holland, MI, for years and I always look forward to our week there. It’s a pretty small town right on Lake Michigan. We also spent time with family and friends here as well as in Springfield. I also started attending a men’s prayer group at Church where we pray morning prayer from Magnificat once a week. All told it’s been a good summer for us.
Of course the big news from Blessed Sacrament is that Fr. Jeff is now retired and you guys have a new pastor. He’s in our prayers and we hope for good things for all of you and the church. The other big news is the centennial celebration at Blessed Sacrament next weekend. Connie and I wish we could attend but we can’t. We’ll pray for good weather and a good turnout of parishioners as well as former parishioners living in the Catholic diaspora.
In today’s Gospel we hear of the healing of the deaf man by Jesus through, what today we would call, the Ephphatha rite. That rite is still an optional part of baptism. Ephphatha is an Aramaic word that means, as Mark translates, “be opened”. While this story is about a miracle intended to heal a physical malady we might just as well ask for a healing of our closed and stony hearts we sometimes develop.
How many times do we turn away from God and His people and do whatever we want. We are, after all, the captain of our ship and the deciders of all things in our own lives.
So, as we think about this miracle of opening that Jesus performed, let us take a hard look at ourselves and ask for a healing of the heart when it’s needed. After all, Jesus is the Divine Physician and we are His patients.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
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