HOMILY SUNDAY 13 – B
Faith That Makes a Difference
(Wis 1:13-15, 2:23-24; 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43)
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A man was walking along a beach and throwing any starfish he saw lying on the sand back into the water. A bystander questioned why he was bothering to do that, as there were so many – what difference would that really make? As he threw another starfish into the ocean, the man replied that for that particular starfish, it would make all the difference in the world.
Pray for a strong faith in Jesus that will make a difference in your life, and in the world.
The gospel today is all about humble faith in Jesus. The synagogue official certainly had great faith and humility to be able to fall on his knees before Jesus in public and beg him to heal his daughter. He is desperate because his daughter is dying. It is striking how unlike any other religious Jewish official in the gospels he is. Jesus responds immediately to his request and starts to go with him.
His faith is contrasted to that of the crowd. In the gospels the crowd is almost always synonymous with a lack of faith, or at least a faith that is superficial. Here Mark points out that a large crowd followed him.
Almost immediately, another person with great faith interrupts him. The woman suffering from a haemorrhage is also in a desperate situation, having spent all she had on doctors only to become worse. Not only that, being unclean, she would have been unable to participate in the Temple worship of the Jews. She had no more options, and having heard about Jesus, put all her faith in him, seeking only to touch his garment.
Art at Magdala, Holy Land
As he did for Jairus, Jesus responds to her action immediately, sensing that healing power has gone out of him. Again, her touch of faith is contrasted to that of the crowd that was jostling him without faith, and she is healed. Like Jairus, she is also humble, and when confronted, shyly confesses her whole situation to Jesus before the crowd. Jesus’ response is to affirm that it is her faith in him that healed her. In so doing, he gives her back her life, her dignity and her self-esteem.
Suddenly, messengers arrive to inform Jairus that his daughter had died. Imagine how he must have felt about this interruption that may have cost him the life of his daughter, but Jesus immediately strengthens his faith and continues to his house. Again, the contrasting role of the crowd is pointed out by Mark – Jesus does not allow anyone to follow him, and when he arrives, he puts out the crowd that is in the house and laughs at his suggestion that she is not dead but only sleeping.
It is interesting that the situation of both the girl and the woman is centered on the number 12. That number symbolizes perfection for the Jews. It also symbolizes life – the age at which the girl could have begun menstruation and her ability to give life, and the number of years that the woman was unable to give life. The message here is that it is deep faith in Jesus that gives us life.
The first reading from Wisdom provides a background that affirms this message. In it we are told that God does not like death; that God created so that all might live; that there are good generative forces in the world. The reading goes on to say that righteousness is immortal; that we were created for immortality, and in fact, have been created in God’s own eternity.
To believe in Jesus, then, is to experience eternal life in the hereafter, but also to begin to experience that eternal life here and now, as healing, as peace and joy, as a right relationship with God, other people, ourselves and all of God’s creation.
The Eucharist that we celebrate today is itself a tremendous act of faith. We believe that Jesus is truly present in his Word and in the consecrated bread and wine. He touches us with his love, forgives and heals us, and empowers us to go out and spread the good news of his unconditional love with complete faith in him.
So, as we celebrate today, let us pray to be like Jairus and the woman with the haemorrhage, for a strong faith in Jesus that will make a difference in our lives and in the world.
