The Gospel according to Mark (5:21-43)
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat
to the other side,
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
“My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live.”
He went off with him
and a large crowd followed him.
There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”
But his disciples said to him,
“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, Who touched me?”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”
While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said,
“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
“Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep.”
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child’s father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,”
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.
Reflection:
Today’s Gospel recounts two miraculous healings by Jesus that are woven together into a single story. The bottom line of it all is faith. And, for the woman who was healed, perseverance as well, as she suffered for twelve years before Jesus healed her. Could any of us have shown such unshakeable faith in those situations, had they happened to us at that time? I hope the answer for me (and for you) is yes, but it’s hard, isn’t it?
It comes down to how open we are to what God has planned for us. It’s easy for you or me to pray that God would answer a prayer and to do it in EXACTLY the way we expect. God does not often respond like that, right? I truly believe, very deeply, that God does answer all of our prayers, but it is always in the way we truly need, not necessarily the way we want it to be answered. It’s like that old saying, where we asked God for patience, and His answer was to give us the chance to wait and to learn patience. Not necessarily what we would have wanted, right?
Just a week or two ago, I assisted at a Funeral Mass for a little girl, Amélie, who died just shy of her fourth birthday, after fighting cancer. There was great sadness to be sure at the death of one who was so young, and who seemingly should have had her entire life ahead of her. But, I was heartened and blessed by the faith shown by Amélie’s mom, Ana, who even though she was in great pain from grief, showed such joy in knowing that her daughter is now in the presence of her Creator. Such faith is what sets us who follow Jesus apart from those who do not.
May we always bear that in mind in our prayers – God will ALWAYS answer, but we have to be prepared for it to be something perhaps very different from what we wanted. The answer will always be what we NEED.
Action for the Day:
How is your faith doing today? Are you feeling challenged, maybe a little hopeless? Ask God right now to show you that He is with you and that you never walk your path of life alone. Is your faith strong now? Pray in thanksgiving for that, and ask that you be able to help one of your brothers or sisters who needs a little encouragement! Then, if you have that opportunity, don’t let it pass you by!
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