February 13, 2026
Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Mk 7:31-37
Listening with the Ears of Faith

Today’s Gospel continues from what we read yesterday. Jesus continues His journey in the regions where the Gentiles lived. Someone brought to Him a deaf man with a speech impediment and begged Him to lay His hands on him. We can see our own reflections in this man. For before we came to know God, we were like this deaf man with a speech impediment, as we did not know how to listen with the ears of faith, nor did we know how to offer our earnest petitions to God with the tongue of faith.

Today, Jesus takes this deaf man with a speech impediment aside. This is meant to tell us that as Christians; our lives should not be troubled by the clamour of the world. Instead, we should keep our hearts always connected to our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, Jesus puts His fingers into the man’s ears. This is meant to tell us that we should often close our fleshly ears and frequently return to our inner selves. For our Savior Jesus Christ is always waiting for us in the wilderness of our hearts, ready at any time to open the ears of our faith so that we can clearly hear the voice of God.

Next, Jesus spits and touches the man’s tongue, inviting us to offer appropriate prayers to the Father using His life-giving Word. Finally, Jesus sighs and says an Aramaic word, “Ephphatha.” This is meant to tell us that we should open our hearts to Him so that, because we believe in Him and establish a connection with Him, we may always be filled with the hundredfold grace He bestows upon us.

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord! Let us never be afraid to open our hearts to God, always being ready to receive the Holy Spirit He sends. Under the illumination and guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, let us listen to the Word of God with the ears of faith and offer appropriate prayers to God with the tongue of faith. Amen.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica