In the baptismal right after the baby or the adult is baptized, then their ear is touched, their lips are touched, and the priest or the deacon says, Ephphatha, be opened. And what does that do? Why is that part of the baptismal right? This be opened? In today’s gospel, the deaf man is given this same right, the same word by Jesus, Ephphatha, be opened.
What does it do? And in the gospel his ears would be opened. His tongue would be opened. So he could talk. But I think in the baptismal right, it’s that our heart is open, our mind is open, our soul is open so that we can receive grace, we can receive love. We can receive the Holy Spirit. We can receive of God’s plenitude that the heart is open.
But what closes the heart? I think what closes the heart is me, my ego. You know, my stubbornness or my selfishness or my self-righteousness, all this stuff. But this is the way it’s supposed to be here. This is the way it should be, or this is the way I wanted. These are the things that occlude the heart. Close off the heart, block the heart.
And so I think this Ephphatha is for a lifetime of opening the heart more and more to receive everything from God. So that’s why in the baptismal right as water is poured, as oil is poured. This word is said, Ephphatha, to receive grace and goodness, just like water being poured over you, like oil being poured over you.
Saint Teresa of Avila says, let us never cease to believe that even in this life, God gives the hundred fold. It’s true. God gives the 100 fold. But we’re closing it off. We’re the ones blocking it. So I think the idea is, Ephphatha, be open so that as God gives the 100 fold, we can receive 100 fold. Ephphatha, be open.
