Ephphatha: Christs Healing Power in the Sacraments

Today the Holy Mother Church places before us two powerful readings that speak to the very heart of our faith. In the Gospel from Mark, we witness our Lord's compassion as He heals a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. "Ephphatha" (pronounced: ef-FAH-thah), He says—"Be opened." And immediately, Scripture tells us, "his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly." In the Epistle, St. Paul reminds the Corinthians—and us—of the saving Gospel he preached: that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. These readings together reveal a profound truth: Our Lord came not only to heal physical ailments but to open our ears to His Word and loose our tongues to proclaim His glory. As we reflect on these passages today, let us consider how Christ continues this healing ministry through the sacraments He has entrusted to His Church.

 

Let us first look more closely at the Gospel account. Our Lord's healing of the deaf and mute man is rich with sacramental imagery. Notice how Christ takes the man aside privately, puts His fingers into his ears, spits and touches his tongue, looks up to heaven, sighs, and speaks the word "Ephphatha." These are not random actions but deliberate, physical gestures that accompany the healing word. Here we see the pattern of all sacraments: outward signs that effect an inward grace. The Baltimore Catechism teaches us that a sacrament is "an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace." In this miracle, Christ uses physical elements—His fingers, His saliva—along with His divine word to bring about healing. This mirrors how water in Baptism, oil in Confirmation, bread and wine in the Holy Eucharist become vehicles of divine grace. In our Epistle reading, St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are being saved by the Gospel he preached, "if you hold fast to the word I preached to you." This Gospel—Christ's death for our sins and His resurrection—is the foundation of all sacramental life. The Council of Trent Catechism affirms that "all true justice either begins, or when begun increases, or when lost is restored" through the sacraments. Just as Paul received the Gospel and faithfully transmitted it, so too the Church has received the sacraments from Christ and faithfully administers them for our healing and salvation.

 

The Baltimore Catechism instructs us that there are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction (now called Anointing of the Sick), Holy Orders, and Matrimony. Each of these is a channel of healing grace, addressing different aspects of our human condition. Baptism heals the deafness of original sin, opening our ears to God's word. As the Council of Trent Catechism states, through Baptism "we are given over and dedicated to God." The priest's words during the Baptismal Rite even echo Christ's "Ephphatha" as he touches the ears and mouth of the one to be baptized, praying that they may soon hear God's word and profess the faith. In Penance, Christ continues His healing ministry by loosening the tongue tied by sin, enabling us to speak plainly in confession and receive absolution. The Council of Trent teaches that Penance is "a laborious kind of baptism," restoring the grace lost through sin. And in the Anointing of the Sick, we see most clearly the continuation of Christ's healing ministry, as the priest anoints the sick person with oil, praying for healing of body and soul. The sacrament echoes today's Gospel, where Christ's touch and word brought physical and spiritual restoration.

 

Throughout the history of the Church, many saints have experienced Christ's healing power through the sacraments. Their testimonies strengthen our faith in these divine channels of grace. St. Teresa of Avila suffered from a serious illness that left her paralyzed for three years. After praying to St. Joseph and receiving the sacraments faithfully, she experienced a remarkable recovery. She later wrote, "I know by experience that the glorious St. Joseph assists us generally in all necessities. I wish I could persuade everyone to be devoted to this glorious saint." St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower, was healed as a child from a severe illness after her family prayed before a statue of the Blessed Virgin. Later in life, though suffering from tuberculosis, she found spiritual healing through frequent reception of the Eucharist. She wrote, "It is not to remain in a golden ciborium that He comes down each day from Heaven, but to find another Heaven, the Heaven of our soul in which He takes delight." And let us recall St. Augustine, who experienced not physical but profound spiritual healing through Baptism. After years of intellectual searching and moral waywardness, his ears were opened to God's truth and his tongue loosed to confess his sins and proclaim God's glory. In his Confessions, he writes of his baptism: "We were baptized, and anxiety for our past life vanished from us." These saints remind us that Christ's healing power remains active in His Church through the sacraments, opening ears that cannot hear God's word and loosening tongues bound by sin or fear.

 

How then shall we apply these truths to our lives? First, let us approach the sacraments with renewed faith in their healing power. The deaf-mute man in today's Gospel did not heal himself—he was brought to Jesus by others. Similarly, we must humbly come to Christ in the sacraments, recognizing our need for His healing touch. Second, like St. Paul, we must "hold fast to the word" of the Gospel. The Council of Trent reminds us that the sacraments are efficacious—they truly confer the grace they signify—but they require proper disposition on our part. We must approach them with faith, hope, and love, trusting in Christ's power to heal and transform us. Third, we must recognize that Christ often heals gradually, through ordinary means. The Baltimore Catechism teaches that the sacraments give us "the grace to enable us to attain the end for which we were created." This grace works in us over time, healing our spiritual deafness and muteness so that we may hear God more clearly and speak His truth more boldly. Finally, like those who witnessed the healing in today's Gospel, we must respond with amazement and proclamation: "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak." Our experience of Christ's healing in the sacraments should lead us to witness to others, inviting them to encounter the same healing power.

 

Today's readings remind us that our Lord continues His healing ministry through the sacraments of His Church. Like the deaf and mute man, we too need Christ's touch and His powerful word, "Ephphatha"—"Be opened." And like St. Paul, we need to hold fast to the Gospel that saves us. As we prepare to receive our Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, let us approach with faith in His healing power. May our ears be opened to hear His word more clearly, and may our tongues be loosed to proclaim with the Psalmist: "I will praise the Lord with my whole heart."