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:
How strong is
your faith in the Lord?
Faith is what
makes us believe that we will have what we want from Jesus. This is also what
Jesus requires us to have whenever we have prayers and petitions for Him.
In our gospel
it is very obvious that Jairus has faith, same as with the sick woman who was
cured by merely touching the cloak of Jesus. However, faith in itself is not
enough we have to couple our faith with our actions. Jairus did not lay idle he
personally went to Jesus and in front of Him Jairus beg for the life of his
daughter.
The woman did
the same, even if she was sick she mightily tried to go near Jesus so that she
could touch his cloak. Perhaps the woman summoned every ounce of strength that
she had so that she could squeeze herself near Jesus who at that time was
surrounded by His many followers.
We all have
our prayers before Jesus whatever it may be. Let us pray hard with faith and
let us also work hard to achieve it. And then let us let the Lord do the rest
for us. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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