Daily Readings - Fri Feb 14 2020
1 Kings
29And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:30And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:31And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:32(But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)
19So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.
Mark
31And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.32And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.33And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;34And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.35And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.36And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;37And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to 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.