Open Up

...then he looked up to heaven and groaned and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is “Be opened!” Mark 7:34

It’s funny how memories from long ago flood back at random times.  As the middle lovelies all came back to school this week and we began to talk about all the things we would do and learn I explained that we had to be open to what the Lord wanted to teach us and speak to us.  One of the middle lovelies remember the Gospel reading from Sunday and we began to talk about the word “Ephphatha” which means be open.  This particular Gospel is about Jesus healing a deaf man.  I was impressed with the memory and connection from something he had heard several days earlier. I realized I needed to bring my A game to school this year!  As we were in the middle of a great discussion about being open and being ready I remembered Shannon’s baptism and a piece I had written about being open.  In honor of one really smart middle lovely I decided to share it with everyone today.

The day our daughter Shannon was baptized is a day I’ll never forget!  The day was memorable for some very obvious reasons like the religious significance and the celebration with family but it had an even greater significance in my life as a Catholic mom.  I remember standing at the Baptismal font feeling very uncomfortable in the panty hose and skirt that were too tight on my “just had a baby” body.  I was distracted by Shannon’s 2 and 4 year old brothers who were being wiggly and silly sitting on big cousins laps watching.  I remember worrying about the meal I would soon be serving to 40 people and then I heard the word, “Ephphatha!” 

The word was spoken to my baby girl but it seared my heart!  It bolted me to attention and drew me to task with shock.  God was inviting and commanding the newest member of his church to be open to his Word and his Will but I felt him speaking those words to me that Sunday morning and suddenly it seemed like the whole world melted away.  I didn’t notice my pinched waistband or my noisy boys, all I noticed in that moment was openness and a burning desire to stay opened.  Shannon began to squirm in my arms as she lay there wrapped in an abundance of beautiful white slippery fabric and I realized that it was my great task and honor as a Catholic mother to fill her tiny open ears with God’s word and life.  I realized that morning it was my responsibility to protect my children’s open ears from harmful words, and ideas.  They were open and it was my job to see that they were filled and in his infinite goodness that day he gave me the awareness of his grace so as not to be overwhelmed by the task!

A Seed To Plant:  Write the word Ephphatha at the top of a blank page of paper.  As you sit and pray with that word, ask God to show you where you should be more open to his Word and his Will.

Blessings on your day!