An Intimate Encounter

​A Reflection on the Gospel ​for Sunday, September 8th, 2024:
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Mark
7.31-37​

Returning from the region of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.

They brought to him a man who was deaf and who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

“Jesus took him aside in private, away from the crowd…”

Over the past few months I’ve experienced an increased desire to spend time in Adoration. This is a bit surprising as it can be months and months before spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament is on my radar at all. And then, if I’m honest, it’s often guilt, not gratitude, that is the driver to go back again. This recent desire feels different, however, with an almost odd dimension of urgency to spend time one-on-one with our Lord. 

What a profound experience it must have been for the deaf and mute man to be gently led away for a personal and intimate encounter with Jesus. Of course, Jesus performed a multitude of public healings, but He chose specifically to minister to this man in private. And there, in that space, Jesus prayed to God that the man’s ears would be opened and his tongue released. And immediately they were.

We are offered the privilege of an encounter with Christ every time we go to adore Him – a beautiful time of intimacy that is unique to our Catholic faith, is “away from the crowd,” and (hopefully) quiet. This passage from the Gospel of Mark caused me to reflect on many things: What exactly was I doing during Adoration? My eyes and ears may be physically open, but am I open interiorly to receive Him? Do I come with a shopping list or can I just be in His company? Better yet, can I leave my ego at the door and kneel or sit in front of Him, trusting that He can do great things in me if I stop and simply listen?

To be taken away from this world gone awry to sit in the presence of Jesus allows us to offer our innermost hearts and to stop, think, and pray. And it allows us to talk with and listen to Jesus and gaze at Him in the monstrance. Sometimes it’s all those things. Other times it’s just one. Pray for the grace for our eyes, ears, and hearts to be increasingly opened in Adoration so that, like the blind and mute man, He may do “everything well” in us for the Glory of God.




Patty Viscount

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