Sometimes It Hurts; A Sermon on Healing Then he returned from
the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of
Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a
deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged
him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away
from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat
and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and
said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately
his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke
plainly.36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more
he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They
were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything
well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.
-Mark 7:31-37 (Editor's Note: Listen along to Nadia's sermon on
below or click HERE.) Given our Gospel reading, I thought it
might be fun to start with a little American history lesson. So
here we go: For most o