15 February 2019
Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading is the story of the fall of man. It is a fall due to disobedience to God, prompted by the cunning serpent, the devil himself. We see how the evil one twists the truth and then tells utter falsehoods to fool our first parents. There’s a reason why he is called the father of lies and the enemy of our human nature. This incident marked the beginning of our walk as a human race through the valley of tears.
But Jesus comes with redemptive force, to heal us and make us whole, as evidenced in today’s gospel. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. After performing the miracle, Jesus orders them not to tell anyone. “But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.”
It would seem as though this is just another act of disobedience to God. But, instead of being a cause for fear and hiding as it was for Adam and Eve, this disobedience is one that is born of joy. It’s a joyful disobedience that comes from an inability to contain such good news. Mercy has been shown. Our savior is among us.