Lord, heal my Closed Self
Introduction
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The story of a person who disconnected his
mobile around seven times while we were conversing. The reason was he did not
like to the person who was calling. He want to close his ears to the caller.
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Closing our eyes and ears towards others is so
common in today’s world. We live in a ‘sun glass’ and ‘ear phone’ culture.
There are people who wear dark shades so that he/she can hide or close himself
to people near to him. He uses ear phones so that he can avoid the voices of
his neighbor.
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The message of Jesus is clear – Ephphatha – be opened.
Content
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Why do we close our eyes and ears to others? It
can be because of the following reasons:
o
Fear of challenge or threat
§
When I see others higher than me in many ways I
feel I am challenged or threatened. So I do not want to see them or hear them.
o
Pride
§
I am holding a high position and have a high
profile job. So why should I listen to those silly people. I will contact only
those who are equal to me.
o
To hide
§
I want to hide myself from others. I want to
keep secrets about me from others because if they know my real self they would
not love me. So, cover myself with deafness and blindness. I do not want to be
open.
o
Lack of courage
§
I do not want to face the reality. I am fearful
of tomorrow. So I pretend to be deaf and dumb.
o
Unhealed wounds
§
I want to avoid him because he caused me lot of
pain. He is an enemy of mine. I do not want to talk to him anymore.
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Even though Jesus wants to heal us, we close
ourselves intentionally. Here even Jesus feels helplessness because he respects
human freedom.
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If we want to be healed let us have the
following in our life
o
Desire to open
§
The people brought the deaf man to Jesus. It
must be the wish of the deaf man that made the people to bring him to Jesus.
§
They begged him to cure him. Their begging is
the voice of the voiceless dumb man.
o
To be away from the crowd
§
Jesus took him away from the crowd
§
It is to be with Jesus and listen to his voice.
§
The crowd and its noise can be a hindrance for
our spiritual growth. We need time to be with Jesus to enjoy his love and
healing.
o
Allow Jesus to do his will
§
He allowed Jesus to do whatever He likes.
§
It is a complete surrender to the divine will.
§
As Mary prayed, ‘let thy will be done in my
life’.
Conclusion
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Are we still enjoying the closeness? Do we still
need to be away from our brothers and sisters?
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If we want to enjoy the real freedom and love of
God, let us pray to Jesus to utter the word Ephphatha
looking at me. Let us have the desire to be open, to move away from the crowd
to spend time with Jesus, and surrender ourselves for divine action.
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