Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
Sing praise to the Lord, you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing.
Hear, o Lord, and have pity on me; o Lord, be my helper. You changed my mourning into dancing; o Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
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.
"Just have faith"
Fray Valentí SERRA i Fornell (Barcelona, Spain)Today Saint Mark presents us with an avalanche of needy who approach Jesus-Savior seeking comfort and health. Even that day a man named Jairus, the head of the synagogue, made his way through the crowd to implore the health of his little daughter: “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.” (Mk 5:23).
Who knows if that man knew Jesus by sight, from seeing Him frequently in the synagogue and, finding himself so desperate, decided to invoke His help. In any case, Jesus, grasping the faith of that afflicted father, agreed to his request; only while going to his house did the news come that the girl had already died and that it was useless to bother Him: “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” (Mk 5:35).
Jesus, realizing the situation, asked Jairus not to be influenced by the pessimistic environment, saying: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” (Mk 5:36). Jesus asked that father for a greater faith, capable of going beyond doubt and fear. Upon arriving at Jairus' house, the Messiah brought the girl back to life with the words: “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” (Mk 5:41).
We too should have more faith, that faith that does not doubt in the face of life's difficulties and trials, and that knows how to mature in pain through our union with Christ, as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI suggests in his encyclical Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope): “It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.”
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
"'Jesus went with him.' The heart of Christ, which is moved by the human pain of that man and his young daughter, does not remain indifferent to our sufferings. Christ always listens to us, but He asks us to come to Him with faith." (Saint John Paul II)
"Let us not be afraid, like that elderly woman who was not afraid to go and touch the hem of Jesus’ cloak. Let us not be afraid. Let us run along this path, always with our gaze fixed on Jesus." (Francisco)
“The risen Lord renews this mission ("In my name… they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." Mk 16:17-18) and confirms it through the signs that the Church performs by invoking his name. These signs demonstrate in a special way that Jesus is truly "God who saves." (Cf. Mt 1:21; Acts 4:12)” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, N 1507)
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December 15th
Third Sunday of Advent (C)
Gospel and commentary video
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