“Open Sesame”

“Open Sesame” was the secret phrase used to open the cave in which the thieves
hid their treasures in the story of “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”.

In today’s Gospel, the Evangelist Mark quotes a word that Jesus is saying in
Aramaic, his own language, “Ephphetha!” It is not a secret word; Ephphetha!” is
the imperative of the word “to open” in Aramaic. The translation to English is “Be
opened!”

Pope Benedict commented this Gospel. Firstly, he pointed out: “thanks to Jesus’
intervention, the deaf-mute ‘was opened’; previously he had been closed, isolated,
it had been very difficult for him to communicate. For him, healing meant an
‘opening’ to others and to the world. An opening which, started with the organs of
hearing and speech, involved his whole self and his life: he could at last
communicate and thus relate in a new way.” Physical healing was the first step.

He added something still deeper: “we all know that a person’s closure and isolation
do not only depend on their senses. There is an inner closure that affects the
person’s inmost self, which the Bible calls the “heart”. It is this closure, Jesus came
to “open”, to liberate, to enable us to live to the fullest our relationship with God
and with others. This is why I said that this small word, “Ephphetha: be opened”,
sums up Christ’s entire mission. He was made man so that man rendered inwardly
deaf and mute by sin, might be able to hear God’s voice, the voice of Love that
speaks to his heart, and thus in his turn man learns to speak the language of love, to
communicate with God and with others.” (1)

The word Ephphetha has also been integrated into the Rite of Baptism. The
celebrant touches the ears and lips of each child baptized, while saying, “The Lord
Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May He soon touch your ears to
receive His Word, and your mouth to proclaim His faith, to the praise and glory of
God the Father.” (2)

Today is a good opportunity to recall our Baptism, our baptismal promises, and
reflect in how we received and communicate the Gospel, the Good News of our
Salvation, to our brothers and sisters.

(1) Pope Benedict, Angelus, September 9th, 2012

(2) Rite of Baptism, 101.
Fr Higinio Rosolen