20250204 DRIVEN BY FEAR OR BY FAITH
04 February 2025, Tuesday, 4th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Hebrews 12:1-4 |
We should keep running steadily in the race we have started
With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 21(22):26-28,30-32 |
They shall praise you, Lord, those who seek you.
My vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.
They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.
May their hearts live for ever and ever!
They shall praise you, Lord, those who seek you.
All the earth shall remember and return to the Lord,
all families of the nations worship before him;
They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.
They shall praise you, Lord, those who seek you.
And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.
They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,
declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:
‘These things the Lord has done.’
They shall praise you, Lord, those who seek you.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt8:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
He took our sicknesses away,
and carried our diseases for us.
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.
DRIVEN BY FEAR OR BY FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HEB 12:1-4; PS 22:26-28,30-32; MARK 5:21-43]
When we are relatively healthy, have a good job, are financially secure, the family is doing well, and we have no real struggles in life, we can become smug and arrogant. We think we are self-sufficient and do not need anyone in our lives, least of all, God. Some of us even despise those who believe in God because they can depend on themselves. Many in their times of prosperity hardly think of God at all, or even deny the existence of God. This was the attitude of those who were at the official’s house. We read that the daughter had died, and they were weeping and wailing unrestrainedly. Jesus “went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and crying? The child is not dead, but asleep.’ But they laughed at him.” Of course, it was not their own daughter and so they did not have any faith in the Lord. They were not desperate enough, unlike Jairus who surrendered in faith.
Indeed, it is only when tragedy strikes in our lives that we come to realize that we are not so powerful and almighty after all. In the face of sickness and death, we come to realize that we are not gods. Money and power cannot give us life. Consequently, in our desperation, we are either driven to despair or to God. Those who become bitter with life and with the people around them might in their desperation end up taking their lives. Of course, some, through the grace of God, might turn to Him for help when nothing and no one else can help them anymore. This was the case of the synagogue official and the woman suffering from haemorrhage. They moved from desperation to faith in the Lord Jesus. We can appreciate the distress they were in.
Jairus’ daughter was seriously ill and was at the brink of death. We can understand how desperate he was. Regardless of his position as the head of the synagogue and how he would be perceived or ridiculed by others, he went ahead to ask Jesus to come and heal his daughter. Indeed, in such a situation, we would most likely do the same. For the love of someone and in the face of life and death, we do not count our reputation or cost but do all we can to save the person’s life. We do not count the cost of treatment but tell the doctor to do everything to save that person. So the last recourse for Jairus was to place his faith in the Lord Jesus to save his daughter.
Again, this was the situation of the woman suffering from haemorrhage. We read how she “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.” It is not difficult to feel with her as it must have caused her not just physical inconvenience but the frustration of not being able to participate in rituals as she was deemed to be unclean. She wanted desperately to be healed. Hence, breaking all customs and rules, she touched the Lord’s cloak even though by doing that she would have caused Jesus to be unclean. That was certainly not a proper thing to do! This explains why “immediately aware that power had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?'”
Today, we are called not just to be desperate for our physical well-being and human life, but more importantly, to be desperate for our spiritual-wellbeing and life hereafter. This is what the first reading is challenging us. Will we follow the martyrs in fighting against sin even to the point of death? “With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started.” In other words, are we serious about living a life of holiness and making progress in our spiritual life? By not living a life of grace, we will hurt ourselves, both body and soul, as individuals and those around us.
That is why St Paul urged the Christians, “Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants, as you learnt from us, and as you are already living it.” (1 Th 4:1-2)
Hence, we have Jesus as our example in being desperate for the fullness of life and truth at the expense of His earthly life and human pride. “Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.” Jesus showed us what it takes to remain true to oneself. He fought against injustices and sin to the point of death instead of surrendering to the temptations of the Evil One to take the easy way out and to give up His mission. He refused to allow the Evil One or the betrayal of His friends to discourage Him from being faithful to His mission and His Father’s will. Indeed, we can imagine what Jesus must have gone through in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His passion on the cross. The scripture tells us of the agony He went through that night and how He cried to God in tears.
What is worse is that because of our sins, we will slowly be cut off from God, from the truth and from authentic live. We will become bitter, self-centred and eventually, in the face of problems, fall into despair and discouragement. Indeed, the greatest sin is the sin of despair that comes from fear and shame as the consequences of our wrongful actions. The way to overcome this is faith in Jesus. In both instances in the gospel, their faith in the Lord Jesus saved them. Jarius’ daughter was not just healed but was raised from the dead. The woman’s bleeding stopped immediately. To the woman, He said, “My daughter, your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint.” So they moved from desperation to faith in Christ. Indeed, in both cases, it was through faith in Him that made the miracle possible. Jesus would not heal us without our surrendering our lives to Him in faith. Only when we are willing to trust in Him completely, will He manifest His power and healing grace!
Our faith, in the final analysis, is not even in God who heals but in Christ who is the life-giver. In the last few episodes we read of the miracles of Jesus. We are told of His power over the storm and the demons. Today’s gospel once again shows that Jesus has power not only over nature and evil spirits but over life and death. He brought salvation to two women who needed His healing grace. Christ is not just a healer but the Lord who gives us life. The raising of Jairus’ daughter is but the anticipation of Jesus’ resurrection by the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has come to restore us to wholeness and to fullness of life. The raising of the little girl is a sign of Jesus who is the resurrection and the life. “And taking the child by the hand he said to her, ‘Talitha, kum!’ which means, ‘Little girl, I tell you to get up.'”
We are therefore invited to contemplate on His passion and resurrection to strengthen our faith, especially in times of trials and difficulties. “Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne.” By so doing, we can find faith at every event in our lives.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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