“Then he looked up to heaven and groaned.”

In the Gospel of Gospel of Mark (7:31–37), Jesus heals the deaf man with a speech impediment. Before speaking the powerful word “Ephphatha — Be opened,” He looks up to heaven and groans. That groan is not weakness; it is the sound of divine compassion. It is the sigh of a heart that feels the weight of human suffering. Christ does not heal mechanically. He enters into the pain of the man before Him. In the first reading from First Book of Kings, the kingdom is torn apart because the people failed to listen to God’s voice. Psalm 81 repeats the Lord’s longing: “I am the Lord, your God: hear my voice.” The tragedy of Israel is not simply political division; it is spiritual deafness. Hearts closed to God eventually lead to broken communities. The connection is clear: division begins when we stop listening. Healing begins when we are opened. When Jesus says “Ephphatha,” He is not only restoring physical hearing; He is restoring relationship, with God and with others. The deaf man could not hear, and so he struggled to speak clearly. Spiritually, when we do not listen to God, our words also become confused, we speak with anger, pride, and self-reliance. But when Christ opens our ears, our speech changes. We begin to speak truth, mercy, and praise. Jesus still looks up to heaven and groans for us, for our hardened hearts, for divided families, for wounded communities, for a world that often refuses to hear God’s voice. His sigh is intercession. His words still carry power. Today, the prayer is simple: Lord, open my ears. Open my ears to Your Word. Open my heart to obedience. Open my mouth to speak what builds up rather than tears down. If we allow Him to do this quiet work within us, others will say of Him through us: “He has done all things well.”