For the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the case of the hemorrhaging woman and Jairus' daughter are presented to us for meditation. If in last Sunday's gospel we were presented a picture of our life threatening existence and the Lord who alone gives peace, here we are given a picture of the onset of death and its apparent triumph on the one hand and the Lord of Life on the other. In both these cases, faith in the Lord Jesus makes the difference. Read the article you find here and use the following as a guide for reflection.
1. In the gospel passage from Mark, we find a woman who has been suffering from hemorrhage most of her life. Her condition was not just characterized by the diminution of her vitality; she also was forced to live apart from her family because of her continuous state of uncleanness. In other words, when Jesus healed her, she not only regained her vitality, she was also given the opportunity to be restored to her family. We've seen cases where healing meant restoration to community. This happens in the healing of lepers. What makes the case of the hemorrhaging woman special is that she was the one who initiated contact with Jesus. She broke the borderline of clean and unclean and male and female. Hers was the touch that caught the attention of Jesus because it was a touch powered by her faith.
Reflect. The woman was driven to touch Jesus because of her need -- to be healed and therefore to be restored to her family. She has gone to doctors to no avail. She had a need that was human; in the end we find out from Jesus himself that she had faith. It was her faith in Jesus that healed her. We continue to hear people telling us to "have faith", "to believe". But "faith" has to have an object. In today's gospel message, we are told that the faith that makes a difference is faith in Jesus. What kind of faith do you have? Is it the generic type? Or Is it faith in Jesus?
2. In the above mentioned case of the hemorrhaging woman, it was her faith in Jesus that healed her. If it was the woman's faith that healed her, what healed the daughter of Jairus? The answer should be obvious: it was the faith of her family in Jesus that brought her back to life.
Reflect. We hear people telling us that only a personal faith can touch Jesus. In the case of Jairus' daughter, she cannot have faith since she is already dead. Here is the case where the faith of another is important for the "salvation" of someone. In baptism, we find this "vicarious" faith operative: the baby may not be capable of faith yet, but it is the faith of the parents and the god parents that make it possible for the baby to be saved in the waters of baptism. It is the faith of a mother -- like Monica, for example -- that a faithless son (Augustine) is converted and brought from death to life ((see the story of the widow of Naim in Luke 7:11-16, although in this particular gospel story, it is the compassion of the Lord that "resurrects" the boy)). Have you considered the possibility that perhaps your own faith in the Lord can become the occassion for the salvation of another?
3. In both the above stories of healing, the power going out of the Lord's body is highlighted. We are told about it in the case of the hemorrhaging woman. When the woman touched Jesus' clothes, this latter felt power going out of his body. We are not told about this in the case of Jairus' daughter, but given the context and the way Mark has intertwined the stories, we are meant to understand the same thing about the raising of the young virgin.
Reflect. The sacraments are powers emanating from the Church, the body of the Lord. These tangible signs of salvation applied to those who approach the Lord for healing and restoration are the means through which we touch the Lord with our faith today. How do you regard the sacraments? How do you give them importance in your life of faith?
