It is really interesting to me when we read something in the Old Testament that predicts or promises something in the future, and then we read the New Testament and bang! There it is! Happening just as predicted.

Today is one of those very days… an Old Testament prophesy from Isaiah that is fulfilled in New Testament action by Jesus Christ. For me, I love reading and seeing these connections, how it all fits together. Today we have the added bonus that the Old Testament prophesy and action by Jesus comes about or is fulfilled by one of his miracles. Let’s take a look.

In the first reading, Isaiah prophesized, “Here is your God, he comes with vindication… then… will the ears of the deaf be cleared… then will the tongue of the mute sing.” Then in the Gospel, we see Jesus traveling near the Sea of Galilee, when a man was brought to him who is deaf and has a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him to cure him. Now the detail in this account is so specific, you know that it actually happened! Jesus took the man and his friends off by themselves and it says, “He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.”

So, yes, this miracle really happened and yes Old Testament Prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But what are we to take from this? What if our hearing is good and we speak without an impediment? Or what if we do have speech or hearing troubles and we are not cured… what are we today to take from this?

Well, I think these scripture passages present a challenge for and to us. When He said, “Ephphatha!” or “Be opened!” he said it emphatically. If you look at the reading, there is an exclamation point used emphasizing the importance of that word, that command to us. Be opened! It’s like he is trying to get our attention saying “Listen to me! This is important!”

So, are we open? Are we open in how he wants us to be open to him? Are we open to his teachings… all of his teachings or just some of them? Are we open to his request to change things in our lives? And are we open to trusting much more fully than we may trust him now? Remember that exclamation point…

He wants our ears open to hear his message, to what scripture is telling and teaching us. He wants us to hear his call – his voice that calls us back from temptation, from a life we may be leading that is off track, from a relationship that is broken and that we are not working to fix it. He wants us to stop ignoring and impeding his requests of us because we are too busy. Or maybe his call to us is to do his work here on earth… he needs us to offer that kind word or sympathetic ear to one who is hurting… to someone who desperately needs to be heard and seen.

The first reading also reinforces God’s message to us when Isaiah said, “Be strong! Fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication… to save you.” Maybe that’s a message we need to hear, to be open to in our lives, to tell ourselves to be strong, to fear not. Maybe he sees us closed up, fearful, anxious, or unsettled. We are trying to go it alone, not even recognizing that we don’t have to be alone… and in fact we are not alone! Your God is at our side. The Blessed Mother longs to intercede for us to her Son… if we are opened. If we want to have less anxiety, more peace… we need to heed his call, Ephphatha – be opened. When we are open, and I mean really open to him, prophecy is fulfilled in our lives and we are changed with his love.

In the reading from Isaiah, he paints a picture of what happens when this prophecy is fulfilled, when in fact we are open. Isaiah speaks of the joy that the Lord brings us. “Then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.” He’s not talking about the parched land of a desert, he’s painting that picture of our parched, dry, closed lives becoming a place of beauty, a place of rest, a place of joy where he is part of our lives.

And it all starts with “Ephphatha – be opened!”