THURSDAY Week 18 Ordinary Time 7 August 2025 WE LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD WE PRAY Let us pray that God will grant us the joy of lasting peace. (pause) O God, we see your power in your mercy. Forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. WE GO FORTH May God’s healing spirit be with us. Amen. May God bless us in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In our reading today, Jesus heals a man who had trouble hearing and speaking. Some people who are hearing impaired or deaf use a special language called sign language to communicate. Watch this man ‘sing’ with his hands in Australian sign language, and reflect on the wonderful world that God has given us. A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (7:32-37) Some people brought to Jesus a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged Jesus just to touch him. After Jesus had taken him aside from the crowd, he stuck his fingers in the man’s ears. Then he spit and put it on the man’s tongue. Jesus looked up toward heaven, and with a groan he said, “Effatha!” which means “Open up!” At once the man could hear, and he had no more trouble talking clearly. Jesus told the people not to say anything about what he had done. But the more he told them, the more they talked about it. They were completely amazed and said, “Everything he does is good! He even heals people who cannot hear or talk.” The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. WE REFLECT 137
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