20210627 VICTORY OVER SICKNESS AND DEATH
27 June, 2021, Sunday, 13th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Wisdom 1:13-15,2:23-24 © |
God takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living
Death was not God’s doing,
he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living.
To be – for this he created all;
the world’s created things have health in them,
in them no fatal poison can be found,
and Hades holds no power on earth;
for virtue is undying.
Yet God did make man imperishable,
he made him in the image of his own nature;
it was the devil’s envy that brought death into the world,
as those who are his partners will discover.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 29(30):2,4-6,11-13 © |
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks to his holy name.
His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
The Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing:
O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Second reading |
2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15 © |
The Lord Jesus became poor for your sake, to make you rich
You always have the most of everything – of faith, of eloquence, of understanding, of keenness for any cause, and the biggest share of our affection – so we expect you to put the most into this work of mercy too. Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty. This does not mean that to give relief to others you ought to make things difficult for yourselves: it is a question of balancing what happens to be your surplus now against their present need, and one day they may have something to spare that will supply your own need. That is how we strike a balance: as scripture says: The man who gathered much had none too much, the man who gathered little did not go short.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Jn6:63,68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.2Tim1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 5:21-43 © |
Little girl, I tell you to get up
When Jesus had crossed in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered round him and he stayed by the lakeside. Then one of the synagogue officials came up, Jairus by name, and seeing him, fell at his feet and pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her to make her better and save her life.’ Jesus went with him and a large crowd followed him; they were pressing all round him.
Now there was a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years; after long and painful treatment under various doctors, she spent all she had without being any the better for it, in fact, she was getting worse. She had heard about Jesus, and she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his cloak. ‘If I can touch even his clothes,’ she had told herself ‘I shall be well again.’ And the source of the bleeding dried up instantly, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint. Immediately aware that power had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ His disciples said to him, ‘You see how the crowd is pressing round you and yet you say, “Who touched me?”’ But he continued to look all round to see who had done it. Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. ‘My daughter,’ he said ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint.’
While he was still speaking some people arrived from the house of the synagogue official to say, ‘Your daughter is dead: why put the Master to any further trouble?’ But Jesus had overheard this remark of theirs and he said to the official, ‘Do not be afraid; only have faith.’ And he allowed no one to go with him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. So they came to the official’s house and Jesus noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and wailing unrestrainedly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and crying? The child is not dead, but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. So he turned them all out and, taking with him the child’s father and mother and his own companions, he went into the place where the child lay. And taking the child by the hand he said to her, ‘Talitha, kum!’ which means, ‘Little girl, I tell you to get up.’ The little girl got up at once and began to walk about, for she was twelve years old. At this they were overcome with astonishment, and he ordered them strictly not to let anyone know about it, and told them to give her something to eat.
VICTORY OVER SICKNESS AND DEATH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Ps 30:2,4-6,11-13; 2 Cor 8:7.9.13-15; Mk 5:21-43]
The world’s greatest and last enemy, as St Paul said, is death. “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor 15:26) Most of us fear sickness and death. The reality of life is that death does not consider one’s status or position in life, whether we are rich or poor, influential or ordinary. In today’s gospel, the woman was just an ordinary lady who had spent all her money on her illness. She had to suffer the shame and inconvenience of an illness that could find no cure. At the other end of the spectrum was Jairus, a man of status, whose daughter was only twelve years old and dying of an illness. Clearly, therefore, no matter who are we are, we will have to face sicknesses and death eventually in our life. There is no escape.
Yet, today’s first reading is very reassuring when the author of the book of Wisdom wrote, “Death was not God’s doing, he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living. God did make man imperishable, he made him in the image of his own nature; it was the devil’s envy that brought death into the world, as those who are his partners will discover.” Clearly, God wants us to live and not to die. God wants us to share in His life and in His love. “Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned.” (Rom 5:12) “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23)
To find life and healing, we need to have faith in Jesus. This is the message of today’s healing miracles in the gospel. St Mark presents to us two stories on healing and the restoration of life. In the first case, the woman suffering from a serious and prolonged menstruation disorder and in the second case, that of the dying daughter of the synagogue official, Jairus. But it is good to note that both were driven to find Jesus only out of desperation. Jairus pleaded with Jesus, “My little daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her to make her better and save her life.'” It is a reality that many Catholics and non-Catholics come to Jesus for healing only as a last resort after exhausting all the avenues available to them, seeing doctors and taking all kinds of medication. Most come out of desperation, especially those who are rich and powerful. When it comes to life and death, everything else does not matter. For the powerful Jairus, he would have heard Jesus preach in the synagogue. Theologically, he might have had issues with what Jesus taught and did. But in the face of his daughter’s imminent death, all these theological and polemical issues were left aside; after all, he had seen Jesus delivering a man from evil spirits and cured many who were sick. In desperation, many of us who have doubts about Jesus come to him in humility, like Jairus who “fell at his feet and pleaded with him earnestly.” He put his dignity aside for an itinerant preacher, the last recourse for finding a cure for his daughter.
So, too, the woman “who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years; after long and painful treatment under various doctors, she had spent all she had without being any the better for it, in fact, she was getting worse. She had heard about Jesus, and she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his cloak.” It was out of desperation that she came from behind and touched the cloak of our Lord for healing. We must appreciate the predicament she was in. To suffer from menstruation disorder was one of the worst things that could happen to a woman, more so in the days of old.
Why was this illness such a distressing thing for a woman? When a woman suffers from continuous menstruation, it puts her in a very embarrassing situation. She would have been despised and lived in constant shame, knowing that she was not normal. She would have been physically weak as well, due to the loss of blood. And having spent all her money to find a cure, she was totally impoverished. Furthermore, in ancient days, to be childless due to her condition was considered a curse and a shame, and her future was bleak as no one would look after her. Finally, in her condition, she could not even come near to God, not just her fellowmen. She was forbidden to worship in the Temple because she was considered unclean. Just like the leper that Jesus healed earlier, she was an outcast.
For all these reasons, we can appreciate why she clandestinely came behind Jesus in the crowd to touch His cloak instead of asking Him to heal her directly. It was wrong of her to touch our Lord and cause Him to be unclean. What would the Lord say to her? Would she be reprimanded and shamed for all to see? So her faith in Jesus, even though it might appear superstitious to some, was actually an ultimate act of faith in the power of our Lord to heal. We too are called to imitate her faith in placing our lives in our Lord completely. Of course, in another sense, her faith was not perfect because of her fear. So too some of us, especially those who are of some position in life, are afraid to come to Jesus for healing lest we lose the world’s and society’s respect, even though we desire healing desperately. But we should come to our Lord. The Lord is compassionate and kind and understanding. Just as He healed the woman with an imperfect faith, He too can heal us who have an imperfect faith.
Then why did the Lord expose her in front of the crowd, causing her to feel fear and embarrassment? “Immediately aware that power had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. ‘My daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint.'” Jesus wanted to complete her healing by freeing her from the sense of inadequacy, rejection and fear by affirming her as the daughter of God, for all this while she was furtively keeping the disorder to herself whilst being alienated from her fellowmen and from God because of her uncleanness. By affirming her faith and her daughtership, she was completely healed. We know that we are healed when we are no longer ashamed of our past and our illnesses.
In the meantime, the faith of Jairus was also tested. He was waiting patiently for Jesus to get to his daughter before she died. But before they arrived, word came to the official that she had died. The fact that the mourners were there meant that they all expected her to die anytime and had given up hope. But Jesus told the official, “Do not be afraid; only have faith.” Upon arriving, Jesus made it clear to the mourners, that the child was asleep, not dead. Even though the crowd laughed at Him, Jesus, “taking with him the child’s father and mother and his own companions said to the girl, ‘Little girl, I tell you to get up.'” And she was raised back to life to their great astonishment. Indeed, faith in Jesus is the key to fullness of life. It is our faith in Christ that we know death has been conquered, and death for us in Christian understanding is to be asleep for a while as we await our resurrection.
But it is not enough to be healed or be raised from the dead and given a second chance. St Paul reminded the Corinthians to give back what they have received. “You always have the most of everything – of faith, of eloquence, of understanding, of keenness for any cause, and the biggest share of our affection – so we expect you to put the most into this work of mercy too.” So too when we are healed or given a second chance in life, we must not continue to live for ourselves but for others. Life is truly ours only when we live for others and care for others. Living just for ourselves, even if we are physically healthy, will not give us life. We must testify to the power of the Lord who has healed us and given us a new life. We must now share with others what we have and, most of all, to be like Jesus, a life-giver in all that we do. Our life belongs to God and so is our health. When the Lord gives us His blessings, out of gratitude, we must share with others so that they too can know that the Lord is good. In giving life to others, in dying for others, like the Lord, we receive the fullness of life and love.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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