Daily Readings - Fri Feb 14 2020
1 Kings
29And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country.30Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.31And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes32(but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),
19So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.
Mark
31Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.32And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.33And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue.34And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."35And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.36And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.37And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Sermon
The readings today present us with two distinct yet interconnected moments in salvation history. In the first reading from 1 Kings, we witness the division of the kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam, who had been a loyal servant of Solomon, is torn between his loyalty to the king and the promise of God that he will inherit ten tribes. This division is not merely political but deeply spiritual, as it reflects the consequences of Solomon’s turning away from God and the fulfillment of God’s plan to maintain a remnant for David’s sake. The tearing of Ahijah’s cloak into twelve pieces symbolizes the fracturing of unity, yet even in division, God’s providence endures.
In the Gospel, we encounter a very different kind of division—one that Jesus comes to heal. A man who is deaf and mute is brought to him, and Jesus, in a deeply personal and intimate gesture, restores his hearing and speech. This miracle is not just a physical healing but a spiritual one, as it opens the man to the Word of God. The crowd’s amazement and their inability to keep silent about the miracle reveal the transformative power of God’s grace. Just as the kingdom of Israel was divided, our own lives can be marked by divisions—between faith and doubt, love and fear, unity and discord. Yet Jesus, in his compassion, seeks to heal these divisions and restore us to fullness of life.
These readings invite us to reflect on the ways in which we experience division in our own lives and in the world around us. Just as Jeroboam faced a choice between trust in God and the lure of power, we too are called to trust in God’s plan even when it seems uncertain. And just as the deaf and mute man was opened to new life by Jesus, we are invited to let go of our own spiritual deafness and muteness, to be opened to God’s Word and to speak it boldly to others. May we seek the healing that only Jesus can bring, and may we strive to be instruments of unity and reconciliation in a world so often torn apart by division.