13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 30, 2024

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God’s healing power, or, encountering God in the crosses of our lives

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 him, “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.

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

God, you did not make death, nor do you rejoice in the destruction of the living. You are a healer of all humanity. You fashioned all things that they might have being. This includes me, O Lord. My birth was the Creation of your love, my ongoing being is the Sustaining of your love, and my actions are the very Word of your love. Help me to bring that joy and love to those around me. [Take a moment to think of one or more particular people to whom you wish to bring God’s love.]

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” 2024, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

In desperate situations, when a loved one is dying, or we are seriously ill, we tend to put aside our usual response, or hesitancy and are willing to try anything that might help. Some people will even go overseas to a shrine like Fatima or Lourdes seeking a cure. That’s expensive but, if a person can afford it, they will try anything. That’s the situation the synagogue official and the woman with the hemorrhage find themselves in our Gospel today.

Mark frequently tells a story within a story. Which is what he does today. He begins to share the story of Jairus, whose daughter is very ill. But he interrupts this narrative with that of a woman suffering from hemorrhage. Both are seeking help from Jesus. So, where can Jesus be found? He is among people in need.

In both stories neither Jairus, nor the woman, have a remedy. The woman had “suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors” and the child was dead when Jesus arrived. The opinion of the onlookers at Jairus’ house was, “Your daughter has died, why trouble the teacher any longer?” Still, the woman and Jairus trust in Jesus. The miracles in the gospel show Jesus has the power to heal and give life: social class, status and influence do not matter, faith does. What attracts Jesus to the woman and Jairus, is the same thing that attracts him to us – our faith.

The place of women in the society at the time seems to have been close to Jesus’ heart. Women were not allowed to approach, or speak to a rabbi. Jesus doesn’t treat women as less, but as full human beings. The woman who was healed touching Jesus’ cloak approached him to, “tell him whole truth.” It was as if she were excusing herself for breaking through the usual borders that separated this healer from the unclean woman. Her blood issue would have rendered her unclean and anyone she touched would also have been declared unclean .She might have wanted to sneak away after her healing, and not make public what she has done. Jesus’ response to her was simple, “Daughter your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.” She did not have to go through the rituals that would have declared her clean, free of her legal and ritual defilement. No, she is raised up by Jesus as he addresses her ... “My daughter….” We do not know her name. We do know that faith has saved her and she is a child (“daughter”) of Jesus; with the rest of us, also saved by our faith. What fueled the woman’s faith? What gave her the courage to push through the crowd to get to Jesus and touch his cloak? After all, she was not part of his inner circle, not one of his male followers. The woman was like one of the psalmists who persist in their complaints to God; but don’t give up on God. Hers was the persistent faith of her ancestors -- that faith helped her push aside fear and propriety to reach out to Jesus, her only hope. Was the woman’s faith an encouragement to Jairus, whose daughter’s condition led to her death?

The faith of the two echoes our Wisdom reading. God is not the author of death, nor takes delight in suffering. God was not testing the faith of the woman and Jairus. Rather, Jesus displays God’s will in the miracles: God wants the fullness of life for us.

Jairus was an official from the synagogue. He not only went publicly to ask Jesus’ help, but when he got to Jesus he “fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly.” What a public display by a member of an opposing party! But wouldn’t we also go to great lengths to help someone we love, no matter what others might think? Surely there were other ways Jairus could have attempted to get help for his daughter. He certainly could have afforded the best doctors. But he is desperate and Jesus has been healing people. In fact, in Mark’s gospel the healings flow quickly one after another. “If Jesus could heal others,” Jairus may have reasoned, “maybe he can heal my daughter.”

The story of the woman healed of her hemorrhage, and Jairus, whose daughter was restored to life, shows how God is present in our world in Jesus, responding to suffering, pain and death. Jesus heals, brings back to life and restores relationships. He is present to need, responding with love, empathy and compassion. And more. He shares our pain and burdens and breaking through prejudice and shattering conventions that keep us apart from one another and from society. A person in pain reaches out to him and he affirms their presence and their faith.

Mark’s story addresses how God deals with evil, pain and death. So, the story of the woman and Jairus is also our story. When we are afraid; when we face death, we can feel Jesus’ touch, as the girl felt Jesus’ hand in hers. We need to hear Jesus affirming our faith and raising us up. Listen again to the opening line from our Wisdom reading today: “God did not make death….” Jesus has shown that, in his hands, we are imperishable.

Jesus responds to desperate need with love, empathy and compassion. He shares our pain and our burdens. He boldly shatters prejudice and breaks conventions. He is not afraid to enter the place where death seems to have its way and breaks the bonds of death and suffering.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Do not be afraid; just have faith

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • A common theme that runs through Mark is that of being on the inside or on the outside. How does illness make someone actually be on the outside of relationships, and how does it make us sometimes feel like we are on the outside, isolated?
  • From Paul Gallagher OFM, in “First Impressions”:
    Has anyone you love dearly ever been close to death?
    How did their illness affect you?
    How did it affect your relationships to others? Your own prayer?
  • From Paul Gallagher, OFM, in “First Impressions”
    Have you ever been seriously ill without being able to find relief?
    Have you ever been considered so contagious that you had to be quarantined from others?
    How do these experiences, or their absence in your life, affect how you hear this gospel text?
  • In this passage we have an example of power and importance deferring to the needs of a powerless woman. What does this tell me about the priorities of Jesus?
    How is it different from the way the world usually works?
  • Did it bother you that Jairus was identified by name, but the woman was only identified by her illness?
    Did you notice that Jairus had support from relatives and others, but the woman was totally alone?
  • Of the two incidents in this story, which one moved me the most?
    Did either of them irritate me? Why?
  • What is the difference between pity and compassion?
  • What is it about the woman’s attitude toward suffering and toward God that we can learn for ourselves about:
    1. the role of suffering in our lives?
    2. what choices we have in how we react to the “crosses” we bear?
    3. empathy with and solidarity with those who are in pain of any kind?
    4. forgiveness of ourselves, another, even God?
  • From Jude Siciliano, O.P.:
    Who, in our lives, has been the outstretched hand of Jesus for us?
  • Do I let my woundedness define me, or am I looking to move on and be healed?
    How does God help in this process?
  • Is faith in Jesus a “head-thing” for me, or a “gut-thing”?
    Have I ever entrusted my well-being totally to God in times of distress, sorrow, or even danger?
  • Do I think there is enough of Jesus’ healing power to go around, or is it doled out to a few?
  • Is there a difference between healing and curing?
    What is the spiritual danger involved in thinking of God as a wonder-worker to cure all of our physical, mental and spiritual illnesses?
  • Who was more important to Jesus—Jairus or the woman with the bleeding condition?
    Are there people that we think are more important to Jesus than others, or more important to Jesus than we are?
  • Are there people whose voices we tend to ignore because they have a rather insignificant place in our society?
  • Have I ever felt like an outsider in my social or church community?
    Have I noticed others who might also feel overlooked or unimportant?
  • From Sister Barbara Reid, O.P., PhD, in “America”:
    How are both personal healing and preaching of social justice needed to bring about the reign of God?
  • How do religious laws, economic biases or cultural norms keep us from having to deal with “those people”?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Imagine that you are Jairus, an important official in the synagogue and your twelve year old daughter is gravely ill. She is at death’s door, and no one –no doctors, no rabbis, have been able to help her. Imagine the panic, the feeling of desperation, the sense of urgency you are experiencing as you seek out Jesus as a last resort. You are putting all your trust in this dusty, strange little man. You are begging and pleading for Him to come with you and save your precious child. Can you both get to the house in time to save her? Imagine your relief when Jesus starts to follow you to your house. But wait! Jesus seems to be distracted by some sort of minor disturbance. A woman, unclean in so many ways, seems to have touched his cloak and claimed his attention. Your anxiety increases as he stops to converse with her. “Hurry up, hurry up,” you are silently saying. “This woman is nothing. I am man and a synagogue official. Furthermore, my daughter is dying. Dying! Keep moving, Jesus!” …But no, he is still engaged with her. When you are jiggling from foot to foot in frustration, some people from home arrive to tell you that your daughter has died. You sag to the ground in agony, only to be told by Jesus not to be afraid. How can you not be afraid? Your world has ended. Nevertheless, as Jesus sets off, you accompany Him back to your house at the synagogue. It wrenches your heart to see everyone crying and wailing in grief. They don’t seem to be very welcoming of Jesus, but he persists, telling everyone that the girl is just asleep. So heavy with grief and pain, you and the girl’s mother go into the place where she is lying. You are so full of anguish as you see her so still, so helpless. Dead. You are astounded when this Jesus commands the girl to get up, and she does!! Ever practical, he breaks through our joy and astonishment to tell people to get her something to eat. This man is truly a wonder-worker and a representative of the Lord. What do you say to Jesus in this moment? Now how do you feel about the woman who was cured on the way here?

In my own life, there are ills that need curing, relationships that need healing or even restoring. Do I get frustrated when other’s needs in this life seem to take priority over mine? Do I feel that often I am shoved to the back of the line emotionally? Do I sometimes get frustrated that my needs even seem unimportant to God because I am not getting any answers? Am I willing to wait in patience for Jesus to hear my prayers amidst all the other petitions coming His way? Do I think my problems are more important or more serious than anyone else’s? I pray for understanding and trust as I hope in the goodness of Jesus and wait. And I pray for patience in the face of the neediness around me. I pray for forgiveness for me and by me, for healing for me and by me.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Adapted from “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

You are suffering right now—burning with anger at someone who has hurt you, or unable to forgive an old hurt, or you are a bit depressed. Talk with the woman who had been in pain for twelve years. Imaging how isolated she felt, and imagine how hard it was to be shunned by her relatives—her husband and children. She had been alone, so alone, She could hardly remember her own name (certainly no one else did) because she had become a non-entity, a shadow, living on the fringes of life. No one could touch her, hug her, eat in the same room with her, for fear of becoming ritually impure. No one would even go near her because she smelled unclean. But a gesture of strong and unshakeable faith led her to touch the cloak of Jesus and be healed.

In the midst of your own suffering and pain, listen to her telling you to touch Jesus’ cloak. Imagine doing that. This is not magic but a meeting with Jesus and asking for his help: touching God carries its own healing power. Prayer can often feel like touching only the hem of Jesus’ garment, but it is authentic when, like the woman, you tell the Lord ‘the whole truth’. In ways that may surprise you ‘the truth sets you free’ (John 8:32). In prayer today, touch Jesus’ cloak and share with Him all that needs healing in body or in soul. Rest in Him.

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

God hates the sin, but loves the sinner. God hates sickness but loves the sick. God hates death but loves the dying. This story of Jesus is a striking example of his sensitivity to where people are, and his willingness to reach out in a very practical way to others who need his help. It is important to remember that these miracles of healing are not to demonstrate his power, but to respond to the pain and suffering he is observing. Can you think of any other stories in the gospels where Jesus demonstrates this empathy? How can we cultivate that love and learn how to be there for all the sick, lonely and annoying people who need us? Can we learn to be there for ourselves, when we need a little care, healing or just a drink of water? Teach us O Lord, how to comfort the sick and help the dying cross their particular rivers. Teach us, O Lord, to be aware of what is going on around us and how we may be needed to do your work of healing and reconciliation.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Did you notice in this story that Jairus had a name, but the woman was only identified by her affliction? The sad story of the isolation and pain of the woman with the hemorrhage cannot be relegated to the time of Jesus. Women and women’s issues have long been on the list of societal concerns. We still have countries today where there are prohibitions about women driving or going to school; there are places where genital mutilation of young women still occurs. In our country, women who work outside the home get paid, on average, 83 cents of every dollar a male makes for doing the same job. Women who have been the subject of rape are often shamed—asked what they did to “invite” it by dressing wrong or drinking too much. Mothers who work outside the home still do 70% or more of the childcare and household maintenance. They are more likely to take time off from their jobs to care for the needs of children and the elderly/ill members of their families. They are more likely to suffer long term financial consequences in a divorce than men do. Do any of these things bother you? What are your family’s, your workplace’s, your culture’s, your church’s views on women? What are yours?

Poetic Reflection:

From Merton, Thomas, A Book of Hours (p. 67). Ave Maria Press:

Teach me to go to this country beyond words and beyond names.
Teach me to pray on this side of the frontier, here where these woods are.
I need to be led by you.
I need my heart to be moved by you.
I need my soul to be made clean by your prayer.
I need my will to be made strong by you.
I need the world to be saved and changed by you.
I need you for all those who suffer, who are in prison, in danger, in sorrow.
I need you for all the crazy people.
I need your healing hand to work always in my life.
I need you to make me, as you made your Son, a healer, a comforter, a savior.
I need you to name the dead.
I need you to help the dying cross their particular rivers.
I need you for myself whether I live or die.
It is necessary.
Amen.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord, so many in our world need healing and care. Give us the generosity of spirit to be attentive to their needs, to be patient and loving… Give us eyes to see those in our midst who are sick, lonely, hurting. [Take a moment to think of any specific people for whom you would especially like to pray, and raise your prayers for them to God.]