Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." [John 14:6]

Worship of God without commitment to the word of God is hypocrisy. [Matt 15 7-9]

The Lord continues to reach his hand of Love to us, all we need to do is grasp it

Scriptural Reflection

  Mark continues to pile up miracles. First the storm on the lake, now two cures. Are these “real” miracles? Did Jesus really reverse the forces of nature or did the woman's confidence in Jesus cure her and was the little girl only in a deep sleep, a comma? Those are modern skeptical questions. Jesus worked signs and wonders, generally not spectacular ones, to show that God was present among his people. The little girl would die eventually anyway, the woman's flow of blood with end eventually. The storm may have ended as quickly as it started. Did not Jesus only postpone dead for all those involved in these signs? The point in the stories is that everyone had great faith in Jesus's power and love.

This Sunday's long gospel selection contains two stories, each of which tell of the rewards of strong faith, both faith publicly expressed and the quiet faith of which only the believer and God are aware. Jairus, though a Jewish official, publicly expresses his belief that Jesus can save his dying daughter when he begs him to come save her. The woman in the crowd is silent about her hope that Jesus could heal her. Both are rewarded because they believed. Mark tells this story within a story as an episode in Jesus' life that demonstrates the importance of the faith of a believer and Jesus' ability to reward that faith.

[Fr Andrew M Greeley]

Have you ever felt unworthy? Have you shaken off those feelings?

At least one point in life, everyone feels they are undeserving or unworthy. Usually this feeling stems from disappointment or futility. I'm incapable. Life isn't going my way. I just can't please others. The only way to shake those feelings is to reaffirm faith in God. God didn't make us to wallow in our self pity. We're better than that.

Why are we better than the opinion the world has of us? We are better because God made us for himself. He is the eternal God, and he shares that gift of forever with us. Evil and fatalism cannot take that gift away from us. How does your faith in God bolster your hope in eternal life?

 

In the ancient world, two kinds of physicians existed: the philosopher-physician and the folk healer. The former served the rich with advice and philosophic musings. The later served the poor with herbal medicines, incantations, and rituals. Obviously, Jairus sought Jesus out as folk healer, one who would touch the child and heal.

With the high death rate among pre-teens in the ancient world, communal grieving was common place and had the markings of ritual (loud lamentation implied in 5:38b). Communal grieving gathered relatives and friends together with a common purpose. In fact, the crowd in 5:38-40a helped prepare the family for the worst and hastened the grieving process.

Jesus entered the scene opposing the inevitable. He interrupted the messenger with a proclamation of faith for Jairus and ejected the critical crowd from the leader's home. Then, he took the girl's relatives and his closest followers to see his miracle. Jesus raised the girl from death and restored her to her place in the family (the command to "give her something to eat" reflected the notion that place at the table symbolized a place in the family, and, by extension, a place in society).

This narrative reflected a common pattern in the ministry of Jesus: proclamation, opposition, restoration. We can even see his life, death, and resurrection as the model for this pattern. Jesus proclaimed the Good News, was opposed by the leaders unto death, and was restored to his rightful place as the only Son of the Father. He promises the same for us Christians. In spite of opposition to lives that proclaim the Good News, we, too, will see restoration as children of the Father.

How has Jesus helped you proclaim the Good News, endure ridicule, and restored your brokenness

 

 

 

[Larry Broding- Word-Sunday - A Lectionary for Catholics]

 

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