“Ephphatha”and “Shanah Tovah Umetukah" - Openness and Rosh Hashanah Renewal with Divine Sweetness

Ephphatha! – that is: Be opened!

Jesus wants what is meant to be open to be open. When he said “Ephphatha” to a deaf man with speech impediments (Mark 7:34), it was not just for his hearing and speech but for all of us, in regard to our hearts and our minds and all of our senses so that we can listen to God clearly and recognize His presence in all things, as reflected in the Ignatian spirituality. Remember, God is omnipresent as He is omnipotent (Psalm 139:7-10; St. Augustine of Hippo, Letter 137) because He is Triune, as reflected in the Nicene Creed.  And He is El Shaddai , Almighty (Genesis 17:1). This is not to be confused with Baruch Spinoza’s heretical pantheism of divinization of everything. Not to be fooled by such heretical views and false teachings, we need to constantly exercise this gift of the Holy Spirit, discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10). Without discernment, we might make ourselves totally open to heretical teachings.

Openness was also an important theme with the death of Jesus. At the moment of his expiration, the gate of heaven, as New Eden, was opened so that we can enter. It had been closed since the eviction of Adam and Eve from Eden (paradise) (Genesis 3:24). This openness was symbolically reminded with the curtain of Holy of Holies in the Temple being torn open (Matthew 27:50-51). This curtain was to separate us from the inner holiest place on earth, where God was believed to be present, where once the Ark of the Covenant was secured in the Temple. It was off limit to people. Only the high priest could enter beyond the curtain to offer holocaust for atonement once a year on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur (Exodus 30:10).

Upon Jesus’ death, as the curtain to separate us from God was torn open (Matthew 27:50-51), we can recognize Him, His power, His presence, and His grace, including gifts of His love and mercy without hindrance.

Now what separates us from God is closeness of us – closeness of our hearts, of our minds, and of our senses due to our stiffened hearts.

And Jesus’ “Ephphatha” also opens our airways so that not only we can breathe the Holy Spirit in to stay alive and to grow abundantly fruitful with the multifaceted fruit of the Holy Spirit, especially with love (Galatians 5:22), as it is in Jesus’ New Commandment (John 13:34)  and explicitly expressed his will on us when he called us as the securely attached branches of the vine of Christ (John 15:1-17). And by making our airway open, we can speak His Good News as we learn from Jesus without stuttering or any impairment do that we can make disciples of all nations on earth (Matthew 28:19), while bearing fruits of love in abundance.

Now we are on the Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashanah to prepare ourselves for the holiest day of Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23:24-27). As our Jewish brothers and sisters dip apple slices in honey, as in the Tulmudic tradition, for Rosh Hashanah, with the openness of their full hearts to receive the sweetness of God’s grace, especially His mercy. The openness as a Rosh Hashanah theme is not just about our hearts but also of the gates of heaven, through which the sweetness of God’s mercy flows out to us. So the Rosh Hashanah theme of openness is twofold and mutual between God and we. Apple symbolizes openness with Hebrew word play (“tapuach” and “paqach”), while honey represents the sweetness of God and His love (chesed) (e.g. Deuteronomy 7:9) and mercy(rachamim) (e.g. Deuteronomy 4:31). Indeed, El Malei Rachamim, God full of mercy.

Because Jesus has died on the Cross, the gates of God’s mercy have been open to us. Jesus said to St. Faustina, “Before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy “(Diary of St. Faustina, 1146). His Sacred Heart has been open and the sweet Divine Mercy has been gushing out to us (ibid. 84, 187, 309) to cleans us for righteousness and to give us life (ibid. 299), recalling how the precious blood and water gushed out of the body of Jesus upon his expiration on the Cross (John 19:34), as if his hear were still pumping strong. His blood and water did not sheep out slowly as always with the case of cutting corpses. And with his Resurrection, everything about Jesus as the Living Christ, the Living Bread of Life (John 6:51), and as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), as well as, the light (John 8:12), the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and his teaching, and the openness of the gate of heaven, is verified. All this not only through Jesus but also through the Holy Spirit is always available for our salvation.

So are we now fully open to receive it all?

What is keeping us from becoming fully open?

Jesus wants to let the gate of Divine Mercy be opened (Diary of St. Faustina, 1146) – to let the sweetness of his mercy be received by us as we are fully open to it.

Let Jesus exclaim, “Ephphatha!, then, for us so that all the clogging and impediments are cleared out. Then, we may enjoy dipping apple into honey.

God had been open to us. Now it is up to us .

With our openness to God, who is open with His truth, love, and mercy, we can cleanse ourselves with contrite hearts and renew our faith to stay alive and further flow into the fullness in God’s image and into the full communion with God, as In Jesus’ desire (John 17: 20-23).

This may sound like another Lent. But adding the 10 days of Rosh Hashanah, we can spend the total of 50 days for our renewal with the sweetness of God’s mercy as we let our wholeselves fully open upon discernment.