For the last couple of Sundays we have noticed that a theme
that runs through Mark’s Gospel is the tension we live in between fear and
faith. In difficult life situations,
sometimes our faith slips into fear and a lack of trust. You will recall from last Sunday’s Gospel the
disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee panicked dealing with a sudden
storm. In a somewhat hostile tone, they awoke
Jesus and asked if he was not concerned for their safety. Sometimes in life situations as we deal with
illness, rockiness in relationships, and even death, we can lose our grip in
trusting God’s plan for us. The grace we
seek in vulnerable life situations is to hold on tightly to the lifeline of
faith Jesus offers us.
This week’s Gospel speaks of the healing of two women. It tells two different stories that are woven
into one. They both involve women in
crisis. We don’t know them by name, just
by their needs.
There is the woman, really a girl of 12 years of age who is
near death, struck down by an unknown illness, driving her father to extremes
in his desperate search for help in going to Jesus. Jairus risks being ridiculed and risks missing
the last precious minutes in his daughter’s life. When the news of his daughter’s death
arrives, Jesus preaches the shortest sermon of his career. He simply says: “Do not fear, but believe.” That sermon Jesus preaches to us as well who
suffer from those human conditions in which we cannot control. Do not fear but believe.
When Jesus arrived at the house of Jairus, he put the crowd
outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him,
and went in where the child was. He took
her by the hand and said to her: “Talitha
cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!”
Imagine ourselves as the little girl and Jesus taking us by
our hand and telling us to rise and live:
“You who believe, and you who believe and sometimes don’t believe much
of anything, and you who would give almost anything to believe if you could. "Get
up,” Jesus says, all of you, all of you!
Jesus gives life not only to the dead but also to those of us who are only
partially alive…who live much of our lives closed to the wild beauty and the
miracle of things, including the wild beauty and the miracle of every day we
live and even the miracle of ourselves.
This is the power of the healing stories of Jesus – the power of new
life, new hope, new being. Whether we
take notice or not, miracles happen around us every day, and every single
breath we take.
May we value life as deeply as the cancer survivors we know
value life. Instead of being caught up
in how bad things are because of money worries, may we hear the words of Jesus
spoken to us: “Talitha cum.” Get up and live. Instead of regretting we are not someplace
else, may we hear the words of Jesus.
“Talitha cum.” Instead of feeling
sorry for ourselves because of some illness or setback, may we hear the healing
of Jesus being spoken to us. In deep
gratitude, enjoy the blessedness and giftedness of this day and make a
difference in someone’s life as a way of sharing your giftedness with people in
need. Make sense? Our life really, really is a gift of God.
As we pray over today’s Gospel, may we be reminded that
Jairus’ daughter lies dying today in little girls jeopardized by illness, lack
of food and water and the necessities of life, the safety and the security they
deserve. Jairus’s daughter can be found
in the children of Haiti ,
the children who live in Iraq
and Afghanistan ,
and the children in need who live in this the wealthiest nation on the
planet. What sort of miracle would it
take for us to transform the world’s systems, and the hearts of its people, so
that all children in need can rise up to new life? Yes, we are overwhelmed by the suffering of
children around the world. We may feel
overwhelmed and helpless. Yet, there can
be no doubt that these children are very much the concern of God. The question we need to ask ourselves is
whether they are outside of our concern.
Rather, we pray that the concerns of God are very much our concerns as
well.
We need to be able to see as God sees. As in the case of the woman who been
afflicted hemorrhages for twelve years, Jesus did not see an unclean woman with
uncontrollable bleeding, he saw a beloved daughter of God who is
suffering. May we too see in those who
are suffering God’s beloved sons and daughters.
And in our suffering, may we hold to our spiritual identity
as did this woman. Her deeper spiritual identity
gave her the courage to reach for God’s love as it was manifesting itself in
Jesus. God’s love is for God’s children,
and she is one of God’s children. This
is her faith. She can go now in peace.
She touched the clothes of Jesus and was healed. We too are to act as Jesus did. Part of our being a Christian is to touch the
lives of others. By touching the lives
of others, we are giving life to others. Like Jesus, we are called to touch
others – even to the point of going beyond our cultural barriers. We are called to choose life.
Jesus is here today, and you have a chance to touch, not
only his clothes, but his very body.
This is what we are privileged to do in the Eucharist. Let us put our heart and soul into that
privilege.
For us as well, it is our faith that we are God’s children
and we can hold on tightly to God’s love and go now in peace.
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