DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Wisdom 1,13-15; 2,23-24; 2 Cor. 8,7.9.13-15; Mark 5,21-43, Yr. B July 1 2018)
In the gospel story of this Sunday, two miracle narratives are intercalated, joined together so they can interpret each other. Both stories include the subject of faith, the issue of ritual purity, the question of life and death, the span of twelve years, and the power of God in Jesus. There are contrasts between women and men, the prominent and the marginal, public and private, faith and incredulity. The distraught/upset father, a very prominent man, an official of the synagogue, and his proper name is given. He comes to Jesus openly, and throws himself at his feet and pleads with him. The unidentified afflicted woman, on the other hand, has been victim of both her ailment and those who attempted to heal her. Her funds have been depleted/exhausted and because of her haemorrhage she is ritually unclean. She does not presume to approach Jesus directly, nor does she plead. Instead, she boldly violates both social and religious prohibitions. She is a woman and ritually unclean, but she deliberately touches Jesus. This is the only miracle story where Jesus does not initiate the cure. The one afflicted reaches out of her own accord and snatches the power of God and it is a margisnalised woman who does so. Although the contrasts between the woman and the man are striking, in the most important issues they are the same. Both the woman and the man act out of faith. They believe that Jesus has the power to heal, and Jesus grants their wishes. Several factors link the woman of one story and the girl in the other. Both are unnamed and referred to as daughter, suggesting that what happens to them is more important than their identities. Still, they are in relationship with the community and not outcasts. Both are ritually unclean and, in a sense, outside the circle of total acceptability. Twelve years is the duration of the woman’s ailment and the span of the girl’s entire lifetime. Both were prevented from contributing to the future of the community; the woman’s reproductive potential was impaired and the girl’s life was halted by sickness and eventual death. The faith of the woman and the man are in contrast to the incredulity of those gathered at the home of Jairus. Initially they may have believed that Jesus could bring the official’s daughter back to health, but now they ridicule him for suggesting that he can bring her back to life. Jesus disregards the same purity regulation that the afflicted woman had. He does not accept the finality of the girl’s death, and he touches her lifeless body. In both cases, the touch that would have rendered another unclean is actually the means through which Jesus transfers the power of God.
The healing of the woman, though performed in public, because of the crowd was really a private affair. The raising to life of the girl, though accomplished in private, was in danger of becoming widely known. At the heart of each of these stories is the question of faith in Jesus and his power over sickness and death.
The readings for this Sunday especially the gospel provide us with yet another Christological (Christology is the branch of Christian theology relating to the person, nature, and role of Christ) meditation on whom Christ is. If we read Mark 4, 35-41, the gospel of the 12th Sunday of the Year, we shall stand in awe of Jesus, who wields the power of the Creator. He is revealed there as having the power that belongs to God alone, the power of being master of nature and controller of the laws of nature. The disciple in the boat had to exclaim: Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea are obedient to him. Today we see that he also has authority over the forces of death. He instantly heals a woman from an illness that no doctor was able to cure. What can we say to his clamorous raising a dead girl of twelve years to life? In the scenes of the gospel, Jesus demonstrates that he is the Lord of life. Remember the raising to life the dead son of the widow of Nain and his friend Lazarus. Who is this Jesus to me? Can this Jesus cure me of my spiritual ailments, or raise me to life from spiritual death of sin? The Jesus who healed the sick woman and raised the twelve year girl to life can raise anyone to supernatural life of grace. That divine power which emanated from the person of Jesus will continue to radiate from his glorified humanity and will reach us through the sacraments. The only condition for this to happen is faith. We have already, as examples of faith seen; the faith of the woman who was cured and that of Jarius. Such faith should be humble, courageous, persevering; a faith that does not give up in difficulties, that does not diminish even when prayer seems not be answered or even when things seem to go in the opposite direction from what is expected. Even when we are, on account of the turn of events, discouraged to have faith as, Jarius was in today’s gospel, Jesus still encourages us to have faith, just as he did to Jarius: Do not fear, just continue to have faith. Sometimes our expression of faith is imperfect, like that of the woman that has admixture of magic and superstition, Jesus assures us as he did the woman: Your faith has saved you. Jesus is interested in our faith in him: at the beginning he is satisfied with imperfect faith provided it is as simple and spontaneous as that of the woman in the gospel, and open to purification and deepening. May we in this Eucharistic celebration pray earnestly: Lord increase and purify our faith! Amen! Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
(graphics by chukwubike)
No comments:
Post a Comment