13th Sunday - A healer's touch

(Daughter Arise: Simon Dewey, 1962)

"Little girl, I say to you arise"

 Mark 5: 21 - 43

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062721.cfm

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O God, who through the grace of adoption

chose us to be children of light,

grant, we pray, that we may not 

be wrapped up in the darkness of error

but always be seen to stand in the '

bright light of truth.

(Collect of Mass)

As priests we often will have a request come in, especially from the very compassionate members of Hospice, that a patient of theirs is in a state of “actively dying” and the family has requested if a priest will come for the last rites (anointing of the sick).  Often too, the family is either not Catholic or have not practiced their faith for a very long time.  Not true in every case, of course, but not at all rare.

I think most of us priests do the best we can to answer that call as soon as possible.  So, we have not only a person who is close to life’s end but also a wonderful opportunity for evangelization to the non-Catholic or the lapsed Catholic who may be present at the bed side of the dying.  If you’ve ever been in a situation where you stood by the bedside of a dying loved one, you know exactly what I mean. The feelings are sad, reflective, tender, grateful and a host of similar emotions depending on the state of a person. I clearly recall one situation, however, when I had to counsel the parents of a son who had taken his own life. My tears shared with them were tough.

Such experiences capture what the synagogue official, Jarius, must have felt as he approached Jesus with his request that our Lord come to heal his dying daughter; a girl who was apparently actively dying. Now this was not some elderly person who lived a long life whose death was somewhat expected.  But a child. A little girl much loved by her father and certainly the mother and entire family.  

So Jairus request is not just a polite request but a cry of desperation.  You can imagine his anxious feeling and his desire that Jesus not delay his coming. “Come quickly before she dies,” we can hear the pleading father say. It’s a heart wrenching scene.

However, it seems that Jesus may not necessarily share the same helplessness that the father may feel. Although he accompanies the official on the spot, along the way he seems to delay. A woman suffering for many years with a serious condition, secretly touches Jesus’ garment as he walks by and is instantly healed.  Our Lord apparently recognized this contact, turns and proclaims that her faith in him has brought the healing.  By spending time with this other woman, he delays his walk with the anxious father so if you think of Jarius, you can imagine how confused he may have been.

This older woman may be sick but not actively dying. What about the child who is? Why does our Lord seem to now allow himself to be side tracked by this lesser problem? Jarius must have been somewhat angered. And now, people from Jarius household catch up with him with the saddest of all news that his daughter has died. If Jesus had not dawdled with a lesser request, there may have been some chance for her survival. 

But, this would not be the only time Jesus seemed slow despite a desperate request.  Remember Martha's pleading for her sick brother Lazarus. Jesus seemed in no hurry to go to Lazarus but waited two days longer. (Jn 11: 1-6). Now, Jairus daughter. Why the seeming indifference?  Could it be that our Lord is testing their faith in him; do you really trust in me that all will be well? What about the times that God seems slow to our requests? Is that a test of our trust in him?  Remember God's request of Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. The Lord desires that we grow in our faith and trust of him.  

Finally, in a scene of mercy, Jesus arrives at Jarius house and despite the din of mourners who were told to leave the room, he approaches the girl and: “. . . took the child by the hand and said “Talitha koum,” (Aramaic) and the little girl arose and walked around . . .” Scholars say the words Jesus used, “Little girl, I   say to you arise,” implies a most tender command.  I imagine that he quietly whispered these words to her as a loving parent may gently try to wake their little child from sleep. And then he simply suggests that she be given a snack.  How human this beautiful story seems.  Yet, also how much we are challenged to ask ourselves if we truly trust that God hears our prayers, cares about our condition both in good times and in our anxious concerns, and understands when we are desperate for a solution? 

All this tactile, touchable, physical contact between laying of hands, touch of a garment, and the hold of a hand brings us to see as God enters the human condition he shares in our suffering, our doubt and most stressful worries. and the result is life and healing.

The words of Jesus to the woman, “your faith has saved you,” remind us that these healings are essentially stories of faith and resurrection.  As the woman is healed, she begins a new life as if coming from the darkness. As the child is healed she “arose immediately and walked around.” So they may have been healed physically but also within and restored to life. And even more so, the little girls entirely family is awed by what just took place and must have come to find their respect and trust in Jesus even greater.  That he would come to them in the moment of their greatest worry speaks volumes to any of us who doubt God’s care. 

We see the divine/human connection and how God reaches to humanity in moments of darkness, when trust is established. These miracles and others we hear of in the Gospels, bring us to see what our God continues to offer the Church through the Spirit of Christ present among us.

Think of the sacraments for a moment and the kindness of others.  All of them involve some sort of physical connection: anointing in Baptism, Confirmation, and the Anointing of the Sick.  The hand of the priest imposed over the penitent in Reconciliation for the forgiveness of sin, the hands of the priest over the bread and wine during Mass; a calling down of the Holy Spirit.  The hands of the Bishop imposed on the head of the Deacon during the Rite of Priestly Ordination and the couple in Marriage who hold hands as their vows are offered.

These are not just symbolic gestures that look nice.  Rather the Church sees them as signs of communication and a transfer of the power of God to the person, as the woman simply touched his cloak.

Think of the many generous ministers of our Church who reach out to feed the hungry, defend a position such as the sanctity of life and other related topics such as care for this imprisoned and refugees. Those who bring Eucharist to the shut in, stand in prayer with their neighbors in need or in personal loss and sorrow.

The world so desperately needs to hear the message of the Gospel today.  We need to be people of healing, compassion to others, hope and unity and to trust that at all times, despite our doubt, God truly is in control and does indeed care about our lives. Remember Pope Francis recent reflection on the Eucharist as the "bread of sinners not the reward of saints."

The Eucharist we celebrate is God’s transmission of his life, his own body and blood poured out for us, and should energize us to “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord" in a very divided and obscenely politicized world in need of compassionate healers.