God cherishes life!

Jesus’ presence, his call to discipleship is within us. How do we heed that call?

WORD OF FAITH: A breakdown of each week's upcoming Sunday readings to better understand the Word of God at Mass.

The First Reading from the Book of Wisdom sets the stage for a very dramatic Gospel. The author of the book is adamant that God is the God of Life. He even states that God formed humans to be imperishable, the image of God’s own nature. The Holy One fills all of creation with life, wholeness and being. God cherishes life! 

The Gospel echoes this theme in the mighty works of Jesus. The stories of two women nest inside one another. It is unfortunate that there is an option for a shorter form that cuts out the healing of the young girl, because both stories inform each other. Both share the life of daughters — one a beloved girl of 12; the other a daughter of faith who has suffered for 12 years with a flow of blood. Both are stories of deep faith. 

There is urgency in the pleadings of the girl’s father because she is dying. We feel that mix of fear and hope that the father shares as he falls at Jesus’ feet begging him to come and heal the girl. It must have been nerve-wracking trying to get Jesus through the crowd. Then, there is an interruption — another person seeking help. Jairus is beside himself now, hoping that Jesus won’t stop, won’t take time away from his daughter’s chance for life. But Jesus does stop so he can encounter the woman who touched him, a seeming impossibility in the crowd. The woman approaches Jesus with fear and trembling, she explains her sad plight. This was a brave action because the crowd could have turned on her as one who made Jesus unclean. But she is called “daughter” and praised for her faith. Jesus gives her healing and peace. 

Now, Jarius’ anxiety is beyond the breaking point because news comes that his little daughter has died. Jesus cuts through the commotion and wailing and proceeds to the house. Jesus calms the parents and calls the little one from death to life: “Talitha koum — little girl arise.” The daughter is restored to her family and community. This is underscored with Jesus’ direction that she should be given something to eat. 

These stories say so much about who Jesus is and the example that he gives to us. Jesus doesn’t hesitate to go with this “synagogue official;” we see Jesus interacting with every strata of society. Jesus reaches out to women in a personal way: first, with the young girl and then with the woman with the issue of blood. She came up behind him to quietly reach out for healing and Jesus could have walked by and ignored the power that went out of him. But he stopped and he saw her and listened to her, he praised her faith and restored her health and her place in the community. Indeed, she had been living on the margins of the community because of her infirmity. Unable to attend synagogue or temple, unfit for marriage, she might have been ostracized by her own family. Jesus’ healings crossed boundaries and extended life-changing healing to both women. Jesus restored life to them, to their families and to the entire community.  

Jesus reaches out to restore us as well. How have you experienced his healing touch?  Jesus’ presence, his call to discipleship is within us. How do we heed that call? How do we follow Jesus’ example? Can we listen to people without judgment? Can we pay attention to people on the margins of our communities? Can we cross boundaries of ethnicity, gender, race, sexual orientation, politics or any of the borders that fracture our society so that we can advocate life-giving meaning and change?  We are called to be a life-giving presence in our world because our God is a God of Life!