In this story of physical healing, we are directed to a much deeper reality—the sacramentality of the world. Sacramentality means that the physical world is a window into God’s presence and action. In the sacraments of the Church, we see this clearly: water becomes the means of new life in baptism; bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. But sacramentality goes beyond the sacraments themselves—it is woven into the fabric of the world. In the gospel, the man’s ears are opened, and his tongue is freed. Jesus uses the physical—his hands, his spittle, his voice—to bring healing. This is not incidental. God works through the created world to bring about salvation.
When we look at the miracles of Jesus, we might be tempted to see them as isolated moments of divine power. But they are much more than that. These miracles are signs. They point beyond themselves. The physical healing points to a deeper healing that Jesus offers to all of us—the healing of our ability to hear the Word of God and to proclaim it to others.
Consider the man’s condition: he was deaf, unable to hear, and his speech was impaired. In a sense, this mirrors our spiritual condition before encountering Christ. Without him, we are deaf to God’s voice. The noise of the world, the distractions of life, and the darkness of sin block our ability to hear God clearly. But Jesus comes to open our ears. He speaks “Ephphatha”—“be opened”—not only to the man in the gospel but to each one of us. He opens our ears to the truth of the Gospel, and in doing so, he opens our hearts to the love and mercy of God.
Once the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was freed, and he began to speak plainly. This is the natural progression for us as well. Once we hear the Gospel, we are called to proclaim it. Our encounter with Christ should lead us to share that experience with others. It is no coincidence that the crowd, despite Jesus’ command to stay silent, couldn’t help but proclaim what they had witnessed. When we truly experience the healing love of God, it overflows—we must share it.
This is where we return to the idea of sacramentality. Just as Jesus used the physical world—his touch, his voice, his presence—to open the man’s ears and loosen his tongue, so too are we called to see the world as charged with the presence of God. Every moment, every encounter, every action can be a means by which God communicates his love. Our task is to be open to it, to allow our ears to be opened, and to proclaim it with our lives.
In the same way that Jesus worked through the physical to bring about healing, he calls us to see the world as a place where his grace is constantly at work. The world is not merely material—it is sacramental. Through it, God speaks to us. The beauty of creation, the love we experience in relationships, the joy and the suffering—all of it is an opportunity to encounter God and to proclaim his goodness.
So let us ask the Lord to open our ears to hear his voice more clearly. Let us pray that, like the man in the story, we may be freed to proclaim the goodness of God to the world. And let us never forget that the world around us is a sacred place where God’s grace is constantly being offered. Let us live in such a way that others may see, hear, and experience that grace through us.