All Things Well
Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family
Mark 7: 31-37 Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
(Parent) Reread this part a few times aloud
“He has done all things well.”
(Parent) Read this meditation aloud to the family
This is a beautiful Gospel passage in itself, but instead of focusing on it directly, we are going to focus on it in its context in the Gospel of Mark. Just a couple chapters before this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee to a mostly Gentile (non-Jewish) area that St. Mark referred to as the “territory of the Gerasenes”. There, Jesus healed a possessed man, and then was asked to leave by the residents. The healed man begged Jesus to let him follow wherever Jesus goes, but Jesus refused and told the man instead, “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.” St. Mark notes, “the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him: and all were amazed” (Mark 5:19-20).
Now in today’s passage, Jesus returns to the region of the Decapolis (meaning “ten cities”) that the healed man has been evangelizing. This time, far from rejecting Jesus, the residents are praising Him, “He has done all things well.” Look at what happened when one healed man told others of what the Lord had done for Him! By his evangelization, he brought his family and friends to Christ. We can offer the same. Our witnesses matter! What has the Lord done in our lives? And who have we told? “Announce to them all that the Lord… has done” for us!
Together as a family pray a portion of the Rosary (i.e. – very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture above. (Optional – allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer)
Reminder for Parents: Pier is just meant to be a jumping off point. The real goal is that you pray & eventually use the fruits of your personal prayer as the content of your family’s prayer. Duc in altum.
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