Umlazi is one of the many townships formed in the 1950s for the black population gathered on the outskirts of the big cities in South Africa. About 750,000 people live in Umlazi, but they lack schools, hospitals, and suitable housing; they don’t even have a field to play soccer on. The unemployment rate is above 40%. Their poverty generates violence, abuse of every type, and a high incidence of AIDS. Many people feel isolated and they are afraid to speak up about their sufferings and their countless problems.
“What can be done?” the leaders of different Christian communities of Umlazi asked themselves. “We need to ‘break the silence,’” they said to each other. “We need to open a real dialogue so we can work on our problems together.” They started with the young people, trying to build a constructive dialogue and deeper relationships with them.
Strengthened by this experience, the Christians of Umlazi made a proposal for the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” which is being held this month in many parts of the world. They suggested a passage in Mark’s Gospel from which this Word of Life is taken.
The Guide for the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” 2007 recommends that the intentions for the week include both the striving for unity among Christians and the Christian response to human suffering.

This Word of Life has its roots at a time when Jesus was traveling and “people brought a deaf man who had a speech impediment to him” and he healed him by saying the word “‘Ephphatha!’ that is, ‘Be opened!’” The people, in seeing this, “were exceedingly astonished” (Mk 7:32-39) and exclaimed:

«He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak»

The miracles performed by Jesus are an expression of his love for all those he met on his journeys. They are also “signs” of the new world that he came to announce. The healing of the deaf and mute man is a sign that Jesus came to bring us a new ability to understand and to speak.
“Ephphatha” was the same word pronounced over us at the time of our Baptism.
“Ephphatha” calls us to open ourselves to hearing the Word of God, so that we allow it to penetrate deeply in us.
“Ephphatha” is his invitation to us to be open and to listen to all those with whom he identified himself—every person, above all, the children, the poor, the needy. He invites us to begin a dialogue of love with all of them, a dialogue that leads to sharing our own Gospel-based experience.
Grateful to Jesus for all that he continues to work in us, let us proclaim with the crowds of his time:

«He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak»

How should we live this Word of Life?
By breaking through our “deafness” and silencing the noises that block out the voice of God within and around us, as well as the voice of our conscience and the voice of our brothers and sisters.
We often receive requests for help, sometimes tacit ones, from many different people: a child asking for attention, a married couple in crisis, a person who is ill, an older adult, a prisoner, all those who need assistance. We hear the cries of citizens asking for better living conditions, of workers who demand more justice, of entire peoples whose existence is denied. Distracted by a thousand interests and pleasures, our hearts and ears are too often not tuned in to those around us. Or perhaps, focused on our own needs, we may find ourselves pretending not to hear.
The Word of Life asks us to “listen” in order to help others to carry their worries and problems, and also to share in their joys and dreams with a new-found solidarity. It invites us not to be “mute,” but to find the courage to speak: to share our deepest experiences and convictions; to intervene in defense of those who have no voice; to bring about acts of reconciliation; to propose ideas, solutions, new strategies.
And when we feel that we are not able to rise to the occasion, what will make us ready for the task and give us support is this certainty: Jesus, who opened our ears and our mouths:

«He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak»

Here is an experience of Lucy Shara from South Africa. When she moved with her family to Durban, she found herself facing life in a big city and having to take on a new job with considerable responsibility. Those were the years of apartheid when it was quite unusual for a black African woman to hold a position of leadership.
One day she realized that a form of acute asthma was spreading among the workers and that it was caused by poor working conditions. Many of them would suddenly not show up for work and then would take months off to recover. She spoke with the assistant director about it and proposed a solution: install a machine to purify the air in the environment. But since the machine cost a great deal, at first the company rejected her proposal.
Lucy, however, found strength and light in the Word of Life that she had been trying to live for some time. She felt a fire within her that gave her courage and kept her calm in the midst of all the discussions and helped her to listen with sincerity to the opinions offered by the management. “At a certain point,” she recounted, “my mouth seemed to blossom with just the right words to defend those who had no voice of their own. I was able to show the directors that the initial high cost would pay off with the improved health of the workers who would no longer need to take off because of illness.”
Her words were so convincing that the air purifier was installed. Soon the cases of asthma decreased from 12% to 2%, and the absenteeism also decreased by the same amount. The directors of the company thanked her, and even gave her an extra bonus in her salary. Joy spread among the workers as they breathed a new atmosphere in the factory, in every sense!

Chiara Lubich