(Homily 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)
An in-depth
and spiritual reading of the Word of God of this Sunday reveals that right from
creation, God has desired the best for all he has created, especially for man,
even to the extent of creating man that he might exist, and not to die. This
original idea of God was so powerful that the infidelity of man didn’t thwart
it, for God in and through the Person of His Son Jesus Christ, restored our
life, and continues to give us life in abundance and to liberate us from all
that do not allow us to enjoy that fullness of life. God is on the side of
life, likewise His Son Jesus Christ. Our
existential journey, so far, has brought to our consideration some of the
actors and factors that tend to limit the action of God’s grace in us, ranging
from sickness, diseases and death, but with a joyful hope we may well posit
in Pauline words thus: “We come through all these things triumphantly
victorious, by the power of him who loved us” (Rm. 8:37). Although, death is an evident reality, in Jesus
parlance, the evidence of death is an illusion, for He is the author of life.
In Christ what conquers death is not life, but love.
The first reading (Wis. 1:13-15; 2:23-24) from the book of Wisdom provides the Old
Testament belief for man’s immortality. The world created by God was good (Wis. 1:14; cf. Gen. 1). Therein, man
was created to be immortal, (even though Genesis
3 seems to assume that man was created mortal). However, the book of Wisdom
must have deduced the idea from the fact of man’s creation in God’s image in Gen. 1:26. St. Paul as well seem to
share the same opinion as in Wisdom 1:14,
for when he was speaking about death, he says: “Well then, it was through one
man that sin came into the world, and through sin death, and thus death has
spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned” (2 Cor.11:3). Drawing the issue
further, the view of death presented in this passage, seem to conflict with the
age long self-evident truth of death as a biological fact. However, it could be
argued that from the connection of immortality with righteousness in Wis.1:15, it does appear the author is
alluding to moral and spiritual death, just like St. Paul in (Rm. 5). In that bid, the mystery of death is beyond the mere physical meaning,
it is a sign of man’s alienation from God. In any case, on the basis of the facts of the Gospel, we believe in what is said by
the writer of the book of wisdom, that “God did not create death, and does not
delight in the death of the living, for he created all things that they might
exist...for God created man for in-corruption, and made him in the image of His
eternity”.
In today’s Gospel passage (Mk.
5:21-43), we see a common feature of Mark’s Gospel, that is, the insertion
of one episode into another. Thus, here the story of the woman with hemorrhage
is inserted into the narrative of the raising of Jairus’ daughter. Even though,
opinions vary as regards the purpose of this insertion, but the more convincing
explanation is St. Mark’s intent to let one miracle interlace into and
interpret the other. As such, the healing of the woman with hemorrhage and the
raising of Jairus’ daughter can be interpreted as an act of cleansing and
salvation (vv.28.34). Therefore, the two miracles prefigure
Christ’s salvation of man from death. The whole Gospel
of St. Mark is centered on the question: who
is Jesus? In the Gospel of last Sunday, Mark already tried to present Jesus
as one who has the prerogatives of God, and as such God; He has power over
nature (calming the storm). Today’s Gospel
periscope presents two miracles, different in nature and similar in the ways
that Jesus accomplished them, but they have a common element: the two miracles were rendered possible or
rather provoked by FAITH. Mark also presents Jesus as the Lord of Life. He
healed instantly a woman that was suffering from a sickness that no doctor was
able to cure for twelve years. More interestingly, He raises the little girl of
twelve years, Jairus’ daughter back to life. In some other biblical episodes Jesus
demonstrated that he is the Lord of life with the resurrection of the son of
the widow of Naim (Lk.7:11-17), of
his friend Lazarus (Jn. 11:38-53),
and finally with His own resurrection. As a matter of fact, Jesus told the
woman with the issue of blood, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace
and be healed of your disease” (v.34).
And to Jairus, who received the news of his daughter’s death: “Do not fear,
only believe” (v.36).
The two figures of today’s gospel are very
much distant from each other socially speaking (Jairus was a ruler of the
Synagogue, while the woman was socially anonymous). And this teaches us the universality and the non-discriminatory nature of
God’s salvation. Two of them teach us what it means to have faith. Faith as
they have taught us is not a mere sentiment or emotion, it is a conviction, it
entails going beyond the human horizon. To believe means to be certain that
what is impossible in man’s parlance is possible in God’s. Mark confirms this
in an emblematic manner when he says: “everything is possible for the person
who has faith” (Mk 9:23).
In that
bid, our great teachers and spiritual facilitators today are Jairus and the
socially anonymous woman with the issue of blood. Though their social status is
far apart, but Faith in Jesus has brought them together. Let us have a glance
at the two encounters:
● Jairus, a ruler of the Synagogue asked Jesus what is
absolutely impossible humanly speaking: the return to life of his dead
daughter. Let us observe the scene closely:
seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet, “my little daughter is at the point
of death come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live”
(a touch by Him). Immediately Jesus
went with him, and on their way the popular unknown woman appeared. Later on, a
message came that the little girl is dead. Some must have questioned the need
of his coming. But on arriving to his house with the words “Talitha cumi”, Jesus brought her back to
life.
● The woman with the issue of blood for twelve years manifested the magnitude of her faith,
after so many years of suffering. She had reports about Jesus and was fully and
deeply convinced “if I touch even His garments, I shall be made well” (a touch of Him). The
story of this woman and her action of touching the garments of Jesus reveal
that she saw Jesus as an ‘extraordinary man’, a ‘great prophet’, a ‘divine
man’. In fact, the evangelist Luke (8:46)
drew the issue further, by adding that Jesus knew that power (dynamis)
had gone out of him, when the woman touched him. However, in Mark we see the effort to transform the woman’s courageous
gesture into an expression of faith, and as such, a personal encounter with the
Saviour. She wanted to do this in a hidden way, because there
was a popular believe at that time, that a woman suffering from the issue of
blood is impure and also renders whatever she touches so. (But in the episode
Jesus purified her imperfect faith). And she did succeed in the midst of the crowd.
But Jesus immediately noticed a different type of touch, and He asked who
touched my garments? But she presented herself in fear and trembling, she
prostrated before Jesus and told Him the whole truth (v.33), and Jesus assured her: “daughter, your faith has saved you”
(v.34). And as a premium to their
faith they received miracles.
Similarly,
at the heart of the two miracles, one notices with ease that faith for them is
not simply a probability or hypothesis, it is instead a certainty, certainty because
it is founded on the Word of God that does not deceive at all. The words of
Jesus to Jairus give credence to this, “do not fear, only believe”. The exercise of faith is not without
difficulties. As someone would say, it
is like a dark-light, dark because
it requires adhesion to truths that surpass our human capacity (little
wonder, is a supernatural gift); it is
light, limpid and immune from error because it is founded on the Word of God.
On the
other hand, in our present age replete with all sorts of ideologies, especially
of those who do not believe in God, and thus see that as a form of weakness and
folly. In their conception, faith is an
act of infantilism and weakness, little wonder, some tend to manifest their
faith with fear and in shame. Contrarily,
faith is an act of humility and recognition of one’s limits, just as Jairus and
the woman did in the gospel. To be faithful in God presupposes courageousness.
In the passage, the stories therein bring to light the incomprehension and
oppositions that are encountered in the bid to believe in Jesus Christ and his
Good News of salvation. A wonderful example to follow is that of Jairus, a
ruler of the synagogue, who notwithstanding his social position and prestige,
humbled himself, without minding what could be the negative reaction of the
crowd (criticisms, derision etc.), walked up to Jesus for something that seemed
humanly impossible.
Once again, as
it is typical of the Marcan account, at the end of the raising event, Mark introduces the messianic secret: “And
he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about it” (v.43). And this order is better understood from the theological standpoint,
for the true significance of the act of raising is not yet apparent.
Indeed, it is only at the death and resurrection event that the veil of the
messianic secrecy will be revealed. The injunction of Mark 9:9 explains this better: “As they were coming down from the
mountain he warned them to tell no one what they has seen, until after the son
of man had risen from the dead”. In all, while the raising of Jarius’ daughter
prefigures Christ’s victory over death, the healing of the hemorrhage woman
prefigures Christ’s death as a cleansing from sin.
In our own existential
experiences and situation, the Good news for us today is that the same Jesus
who instantly healed the woman with the issue of blood, who for twelve years
was craving and searching for cure, is the same Jesus that can heal our own
sickness, especially the spiritual sickness called sin. The same Jesus that
gave back life to the daughter of Jairus can deliver us and give us life in
abundance (Jn. 10:10). But from us, Jesus just requires a humble, courageous
and persevering faith as exemplified in today’s Gospel passage. The faith
that does not give up even when prayers seem not to be answered and when things
are not working as desired. A wonderful example is the experience of Jairus
when Jesus was on His way to His house, and later was ‘distracted’ by the woman
that touched him. And again, while Jesus was still on the way a message came
from Jairus house: “your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any
further”. As if the coming of Jesus is no longer useful. But Jesus ignored them
and intervened with these words to Jairus: “do not fear, only believe”. What
happened to “the some” who came with despondency to report the death of Jairus
daughter and at the same time seeing Jesus visit to be useless can also happen
to us, when we lose hope, and begin to doubt what God can do in our life. In
moments like that the words of Jesus re-echoes again to us saying: “do not
fear, only believe”. What are those things that are standing between us and our
faith in Jesus? Is it sickness? It can
become a bridge and not a wall for us to encounter Jesus. Is it the crowd? We should not be discouraged by them.
Is it derision? Faith in Jesus conquers
that. In the words of St. Paul, “In all these things we have complete
victory through Him who loved us” (Rm.
8:37). In whatever situation we find ourselves a touch of Him or a touch by
Him can raise us up! Let us put our voices together and invoke the power of the
miracle Jesus to raise us up from our different situations of failure and
limitations. Amen! And may the song of Josh Groban, “You raise me Up”, re-echo
in our hearts and lips thus:
When I am down, and, oh, my soul, so weary
When troubles come, and my heart burdened be
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit awhile with me
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up… to more than I can be.
Dear beloved Jesus, you love each of us individually with a unique and
personal love. Touch us with your saving power, heal and restore us to the
fullness of life, Amen!
(Fr. Vitus Chigozie, SC)
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