On listening and doing

Christ's miracle narrated in today's Gospel is recorded only by Mark, whose account is again characterised by vivid touches suggesting the story of an eyewitness. Jesus had already been previously in the region known as Decapolis and his fame as a miracle worker was already spread there, probably by the man who had been freed from diabolical possession. Today's episode involves a man who was deaf and dumb.

In the exercise of his miraculous powers Jesus, as usual, avoids ostentation. His humility in this respect was a contrast to the pretensions of false messiahs who sought to win the favour of the people by extravagant promises of miraculous deeds.

The then prevalent misconceptions of the nature of Messianic salvation explain the measure of silence and secrecy with which Jesus sought to veil his miracles and his own identity, especially while still at the beginning of his ministry.

In the present instance however, there was an additional reason. The gestures employed by Christ in curing this man were very appropriate to the cure he was about to perform. Jesus put his fingers into his ears and touched his tongue with saliva. Then he looked up to heaven and said "eppheta", which means 'be opened'.

The pagans, who probably happened to be there on this occasion, and probably some Jews as well, might have interpreted these gestures as part of a magical rite. Jesus could have cured this man by a simple word or gesture, even at a distance. But it is clear that the actions he performed in this case place in clear light the efficacious participation of his humanity in the miracles he performed throughout his public life.

Jesus' command not to divulge this miracle emphasises, as usual, his humility. But, as the evangelist remarks, the more he insisted, the more widely they published it.

This particular miracle performed by Jesus with the blind man and the word "eppheta" pronounced by Jesus should strike as particularly meaningful to us here in our country. The rite of Baptism, which was administered to each one of us years ago, contains an item called 'exorcism'; before the pouring of the water, the minister of the sacrament anoints the ears and mouth of the child while pronouncing these exact words "Eppheta, that is, be opened!" (the Semitic word eppheta, being in Aramaic, recalls our Maltese word infetah). It therefore recalls for us the very rite of baptism which was administered to us individually at the very outset of our rebirth in Christ.

As Christians we have committed ourselves in the sacrament of baptism to continue Christ's own work m the world we live in, in our homes and in our work, and in fact in all our actions wherever we may be.

That is what being baptised in Christ means: a person in the service of Jesus Christ the Redeemer in order to further his salvific ministry. A prolongation of Christ, as we read in the recent official publication Catechism of the Catholic Church. But before being ready to do that, we need always to remember what our baptismal commitment was all about: a death to all that is unChristian and a rebirth in Jesus Christ.