By James Tissot [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
“Our Savior Jesus Christ
destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.”
In his book “The Better Part” Fr. John Bartunek, LC, writes
about today’s Gospel passage, saying,
“Jesus is powerful and wise… yet he puts himself completely
at the service of others… He heals the woman with a hemorrhage; he raises
Jairus’ daughter from the dead; he never once denies a request made of him with
a sincere and humble faith… He knows what we need… When the woman touched his
cloak, he knew it. Amid the large, jostling crowd, he felt the touch of faith,
the touch of someone who was in need. And when he reassures her, he calls her
“my daughter” – was ever a Lord so close to his people?”
“It was faith that brought Jairus to his knees in front of
Christ – and that faith raised his daughter back to life. It was faith that
propelled the woman to touch Jesus’ cloak, even though doing so was a risk (by
the Mosaic Law, her hemorrhage made her ritually unclean, so touching Christ
would him make unclean as well), and it was faith that cured her and gave her
peace... trust in God no matter what, in spite of appearances (Jairus’
daughter, by all accounts, was already gone), in spite of the limited vision of
our natural reason (the doctors had concluded that this woman’s sickness was
incurable): this kind of childlike trust is what Christ longs for from us; it
alone frees him to unfurl the power of his love in our lives.”
“I know people whose souls are sick and dying because they
need you in their lives… I ask you to come and heal them. I know you love them
even more than I do, even more than they love themselves... open their hearts
to your grace, and make me a bold and gentle ambassador to them of your truth
and love… Open my eyes… so that the power of your grace will touch me where I
need it most... increase my faith, Lord, so that I can… always rejoice in whatever
trial you may send my way.”
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