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 and pressed upon 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
Jesus, “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:
What does an encounter with Jesus do to us? It gives us hope and it cures
us. There’s a story of a woman who had a terminal sickness. She was told by her
doctor that she only had two months to live. But this woman was a woman of
faith. She attends Holy Mass every day and does other things to strengthen her
faith in Jesus.
When she was told that she had two months to live, she told her doctors,
I will prove all of you wrong I’m going to beat this severe sickness with my
faith in Jesus. True enough, after two months the woman of faith was still
alive and totally free from her severe sickness.
We have in our gospel two stories of faith, hope and healing coursed
through an encounter with Jesus. The first one is the story of Jairus a
synagogue official whose daughter was in death throes. Jairus went to
Jesus to plead Him to cure his young daughter. Seeing the faith of Jairus Jesus
went to his house to cure and bring back to life Jairus’ daughter.
The second story of faith hope and healing is an unnamed woman who for
twelve long years had been suffering severe hemorrhages. She heard that Jesus
would be passing by her way. It gave her hope and it further strengthened her
faith. So she did her best to touch even the cloak of Jesus for she believed
that by simply touching it she would be healed. And she was able to touch Jesus
cloak and was indeed immediately healed.
There could be a third story of faith, hope and healing by Jesus. And
this third story could be your own story. What is your testimony of faith, hope
and healing by Jesus? Share it so that others faith and hope in Jesus could be
strengthened!
All of us one way or the other have our own story of encounter with Jesus
let us not keep this story within us. Let us share it so that others may know
Jesus and hopefully have also an encounter with Him. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas