Ephphetha is for us, too.

My Sunday Scripture 2009.9.6.

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.

There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.

He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”).

At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.

People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Saint Mark 7:31-37


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My Reading Notes:
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To a certain extend, we are all blind. We can not see the view from the upper level.
It is not easy to see that we are all blind. If some one who could be humble enough and he will learn this lesson, by admitting that "I am blind and can not see", then may he utter the sound "Ephphatha!" (be opened!) to heal himself out of the blindness.
(note: some spell Ephphetha, not Ephphatha)


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Where do the dirty things come from?

My Sunday Scripture 2009.8.30

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles (and beds).) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.' You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He summoned the crowd again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile." From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile."

Saint Mark 7:1-8.14-15.21-23.

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My Reading Notes:
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Where do the dirty things come from?

It is from within, not from outside. To purify oneself, is to clean it from inside.

The bigger motivation power is from within. If you wanted to do anything, it is from within that you wanted to do. If you do not wish to do anything, it is from within that you refuse to do.

And the question is: How do I know what is inside my mind? Am I doing the things I really wanted to do?

Could I be a fool doing all that is not my true wish?

And the answer is obvious.

It is the spirit that gives life while the flesh is of no avail.

My Sunday Scriture 2009.8.23


Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

Saint John 6:60-69.

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My Reading Notes:
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It is very important idea: "It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail." It is Jesus who told us to eat his flesh to gain eternal life, now Jesus told us more: It is the spirit that gives life, when we eat his flesh, he will remain in us and we in him, but it is the spirit which is more important. Jesus had said: "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

We ARE one

My Sunday Scripture 2009.8.16

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."
Saint John 6:51-58.

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My Reading Notes:
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In this way, Jesus told us that we are connected, we have Him in us and he had us in Him. And that is why, we are all brothers and sisters, then we should love one another.We had Jesus in us, then we can happily said, we are Jesus. And this theory coincides with Zhuang Zi the ancient Chinese philosopher: We Are One.

What is believing?

My Sunday Scripture 2009.8.9

The Jews murmured about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," and they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: 'They shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

Saint John 6:41-51

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My Reading Notes:
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Jesus said:"whoever believes has eternal life." But what is believing? To my understanding, believing is to do as Jesus taught, that is, to carry one's own cross and follow the path of loving.

Praying and worshipping are but part of the believing.

Real believing must be followed by the complete change of one's mind set and take suitable action that follows.

What can we do

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." So they said to him, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." So they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

Saint John 6:24-35.

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My Reading Notes:
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The questiong here is: "What can we do?"
And the answer here is: "To believe in Jesus Christ"

What does it mean by "believing"?

It means, one must obey His teaching, and that means: to love one another.

and that also means, to dedicate oneself completely, and to open our eyes,
to feel the need of the others, to serve, to do what ever we can do.