Mark 7:34

34. Looking up to heaven He thereby declares that it is by no earthly or demoniac power that he performs this work, but by his oneness with the Father in heaven. Sighed Either a deep aspiration to God, or a sigh for the woes which it is his mission to compassionate. Ephphatha Here, as in the case of the words “Talitha cumi,” which pierced the dead ear of the maiden, Mark preserves the very word in the very language uttered. These words, which were impregnated with a power to pierce the unhearing, he thinks, are memorable words. The tradition of the Church had preserved them to him, and he deems them worthy to be preserved in the true written tradition of the Church of all ages. Memorable words they are, reminding us of those dread tones which shall pierce the ears of a slumbering race and wake it to a final resurrection.