Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time (January 30, 2018): Fear is a waste of time

Today’s Readings:

2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30 –19:3
Psalm 86:1-6
Mark 5:21-43
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/013018.cfm

USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_01_30.mp3

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat
to the other side,
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
“My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live.”
He went off with him
and a large crowd followed him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”
But his disciples said to him,
“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, Who touched me?”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said,
“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
“Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep.”
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child’s father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,”
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.

Good News Reflection: 

Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading, “Don’t be afraid — just have faith.” Why did Jesus talk about fear instead of grief when he and the disciples received the news that it was too late to heal Jairus’ little girl? What were the people afraid of? Before the girl had died, her loved ones were afraid she would die, but afterward, there was only sadness.

Or was there?

Jesus knew that he’d have no problem raising the girl back to life if she died before he reached her, but everyone else was afraid that his power wasn’t miraculous enough for that. To them, the child’s last breath was Jesus’ final opportunity to heal her. When they didn’t get what they wanted, they thought: “It’s too late.”

Has a time limit passed in your life, and it seems too late for Jesus to make a difference? Is there someone who’s been on a deadly path and now you’re afraid it’s too late for them to change?

Perhaps you know people who are refusing to accept Jesus into their lives, and you’re afraid they will die without him. Or a loved one is on a self-destructive course of addictions. Or what if you’ve worked long and hard to raise a child in the faith, and all seems for naught — how many years of not going to Mass is too long?

Jesus knows that he can raise our loved ones from the pit of destruction, even if they make all the wrong decisions. Do we know this, too? If we believe in Jesus, yes, we know this. Faith is not based on what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears. Faith is not based on anything logical. Faith is a matter of believing in the truth about Jesus. And faith tells us that nothing is impossible for God. If what we want from him is good, he wants to give it more than we want to receive it!

Certainly, people have to be willing to let Jesus help them. Jairus’ daughter could have said, “No, I like being dead. It’s much more peaceful here.” This is where our faith helps others. Jesus brought in the girl’s parents (the people who cared most about her) and his own friends (the people who had already witnessed his miracles). He sent everyone else out. Is this because the parents and disciples had no fear and no doubts? I doubt that. It’s because miracles are a community event. Jesus works through the people around us who have faith and believe in his mercy.

Forget what fear tells you. Listen to the truth about Jesus. Your faith can make a difference. You can stand in the gap — between life and death, healing and destruction — for those whose faith is weak or non-existent. Jesus will show you how.

Today’s Prayer:

Lord Jesus: You want to deliver me from everything that chains, torments and blocks me from being fully joyful. Give me the grace of letting you work in me, not scandalizing and not being afraid of the changes you want to make in my life. Give me docility and courage to receive the great blessings You prepared for me. Amen.

© 2018 by Terry A. Modica

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