He took him away

Sharing with you an excerpt from today’s gospel

He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
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.

It is interesting to see that Jesus took him away. He did not immediately heal him. He did not just lay his hand on him, like the people begged him to. He took him away. He wanted to have this intimate and personal experience with the man, away from the crowd, the spectators. When they were alone, he touched his tongue and his ears – the weakest parts of his body since he was deaf and could not speak. He was healed afterwards.

Jesus also wants to take us away. He wants to spend time with us, away from everyone and everything. One on one. He wants to have an intimate conversation with us, an intimate and personal relationship with us. He wants us to know that like the man, he is capable and willing to touch the weakest points in us and heal us.

Question is, are we willing to? Are we open to letting him touch our lives, or are we too comfortable where we are right now? Are we willing to open up and bring him our weakest parts? Do we trust him enough?

May we remember that God wants to spend an intimate moment with us, and he wants to have a personal relationship with us. May we be open up our hearts and our lives to him. As we serve him, may we also bring others to him, like the people who brought the man to Jesus.

God bless!