This Monday we remember all those who lost their lives in the tragedy of September 11, 2001. As we reflect on how we can continue to reach out to one another no matter what our race, faith, or nationality, we are mindful that Sunday's Gospel calls us to be open. In Mark 7:31-37, Jesus heals a deaf man by saying the word, "Ephphatha" which means "Be Opened." We too are called to open our hearts and minds to those who are different than us, and to celebrate our diversity while striving for unity. This week's prayer was created in 2003 by a group of students at Fontbonne University who were preparing for a service trip. Like these students, we are called to bring hope and love to a broken world. May our call to live the Gospel be the beginning of true transformation of ourselves and the rest of the world.
Ephaphatha Prayer
O God,
Open us to your call in the midst of our fear.
We seek you, but we struggle to follow you into the unknown
because we are unsure of ourselves, and
while we wish we werent,
we are unsure of you.
Come into us and strengthen us,
grow in us that we might grow in you
to reflect your light and your love.
Can we find the strength to follow you
leaving ourselves and all we know behind?
Can we be opened to care for your children,
cruel and kind, ugly and beautiful,
poor and rich?
Can we be so opened and
so free that we are changed?
Can we risk the hostile stares?
With you in us and us in you, we hope and believe.
Wipe away our blindness and open our eyes
to see your presence and your light all around us. We walk and serve in truth and humility
because your grace has set us free
with the truth of your glory in us.
Help us see, O God, help us see.
We long to be our true selves
to reflect the light that we hide and fear.
Open us to the goodness, the holiness, and the beauty of who we are
and who we are becoming.
Open us to the light of your path,
and to the gifts of who we are
that we might change and be changed.
Your voice and ours sing our names together.
Open our ears, open our eyes,
open our lives
that we might walk with you.
Open us to move and live and grow in you
and you in us.
Amen.
-adapted from The Summons by John L. Bell
by the EPHPHATHA 2003 community
