Thursday, June 28, 2018

Reflection for Sunday July 1, Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Mark 5:21-43

Gospel: 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 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.
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Reflection:
A woman who was diagnosed with terminal sickness was given by her doctors only two months to live. Even if her health was already failing this woman had incredible faith, even if she was already getting weaker by the day she would try very hard to attend Holy Mass daily. 

It eventually came to a point that she was too weak to get up from her bed. Hence, she requested their parish priest to visit her so that she could be administered the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. And thereafter every Sunday she would be visited by an Extra-Ordinary  Minister of the Holy Communion to give her the Body of Christ.

After a month of receiving the Body of Christ brought to her by the Extra-Ordinary  Minister of the Holy Communion. The woman was amazingly able to get up again. She regained her strength and was able to attend once again their daily Mass. When she was asked who healed her she would always give praise to Jesus and her strong faith in Him.

We have in our gospel two incredible stories of faith one is the synagogue official named Jairus and the other one is a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve long years. Both of them got what they wanted from Jesus, in the case of Jairus healing for his daughter and the woman healing for her sickness that had been enslaving her for twelve years.

Jesus granted them both what they want because they both have rock solid faith. Not only that they have faith they also manifested their respective faiths by their deeds or actions. For example, in the story of Jairus he went out of his way to personally go to Jesus to ask Him to come to his home and lay His hand on his daughter.

The woman afflicted with hemorrhages did the same, upon hearing that Jesus was near her. She went to Him with the intention of touching a part of His clothes and that would be enough for her to be healed by Jesus. So, she went to Jesus; touched His cloak and she was immediately cured. Jesus told her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction (Mark 5:34)."          

Just like Jairus and the sick woman our faith in Jesus must always be coupled with action. If we pray to Jesus to grant us something we must not lay around idly we must work for it and ask Jesus with faith to grant us what we want. It must always be faith with action not faith without action.  St. James said: What good is it to profess faith without showing works?” “Such faith has no power to save you (James 2:14).”   

How is your faith in Jesus is it always coupled with action? – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

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