Friday, February 12th

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Imediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed and he spoke plainly.

The above picture is a bust of the Greek orator Demostenes who overcame a speech impediment. There are two modern day examples of people who overcame speech impediments Mel Tillis, country singer, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden. Myself as a child, I studdered. It was something I outgrew. I was more shy than anything else.

In today’s Gospel Jesus cures the speech impediment of a man, but that is not the only thing He does. He also opened the ears of the man and because of that could speak plainly. In our first reading from Genesis, man fell and took on the imperfections of original sin. This was an impediment of his own making. As we approach the Holy Season of Lent next week, we are intensely reminded of our imperfections and sinful nature

The two things that I took from our readings today was a great insight into the nature of God. In John 3:16-18 we learn that God gave us His only begotten Son. In Genesis we fell with Adam. The other thing is that when Christ cured He made the person better than before the cure before his cure. Jesus not only cures us by His Death and Resurrection but we become heirs as His sons and daughters.

These two readings together are a metaphor for the way that God wants to heal us not only from our physical woes but our spiritual illnesses. God is generous and wants healing to both and yes in the end He wants us to become perfect as Adam and Eve were. God wants to walk with us.

Next week is the beginning of Lent. Prepare yourselves by walking with Jesus everyday. Friends when they walk don’t always have great discussions. The mere presence of friends is what God wants and what we need for complete healing. We can overcome anything with a friend

God Love You Always

Bob Burford