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| “Raising of the Daughter of Jairus” (detail) Paolo Veronese, c. 1546 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Genesis 28:10-22a
Commentary on Gn 28:10-22a
The story of the first patriarchs of the Jewish people continues with the story of “Jacob’s Dream.” Jacob takes a stone from a shrine at the holy place he later calls Bethel and uses it for a pillow. He has a dream in which God gives him and his descendants the land.
The notion of God being especially present in a specific physical location represents an ancient Jewish belief (shared by many other ancient near-eastern religions) that God came to earth at “high places,” or special places requiring sacrifice to be offered and altars to be set up. God’s revelation in Christ informs us that God is omnipresent, that is, in all places equally present.
CCC: Gn 28:10-22 2573
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab
R. (see 2b) In you, my God, I place my trust.
Commentary on Ps 91:1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab
The hymn of thanksgiving, that is Psalm 91, gives praise to God for the salvation of his people. He saves those who believe in him from distress and fear through his consolation and mercy.
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Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26
Commentary on Mt 9:18-26
Jesus continues his journey in this passage from Matthew’s Gospel. Again he engages in healing those who have faith in him. First, in a situation similar to the incident with the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-11; Luke 7:1-10), he is asked to help an official. As he is responding to that request, a woman with a hemorrhage approaches Jesus and reaches out to him. As she touches the tassel of his cloak, she experiences healing in that touch. In Mark and Luke the story is much more detailed. The Lord feels this touch and seeks out the woman (see Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48).
Jesus arrives at the official's home and heals his daughter. In Mark’s Gospel (Mark 5:23) she was at the point of death, here she had already “fallen asleep,” meaning she had died. Again, Jesus, seeing the faith of the requester, raises her from her deathbed to new life.
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Reflection:
If we truly believe in the authority of Christ over death, death itself ceases to be a cause for fear. If we truly believe Christ can heal us, a touch of his cloak will accomplish that healing. How difficult it is to take that leap of faith. The Lord was wise indeed when he said: “whoever does not accept the kingdom of God
How can we come to such faith? We know and understand that faith is a gift from God. We also know that through faith flows all the grace and strength we need. We know that faith, like physical strength, can be grown through proper exercise and diet (exercise for faith is practice, and diet is the Word of God and sacraments). And herein lays the paradox. As we mature in our faith, we see all the depth and complexity of the truth Christ was pleased to reveal to us. We hear his command to love God and others. We can comprehend that this is done most completely by an innocent child (before they are taught by us not to trust or even speak to strangers; how insidious is the evil one who forces us to take away that innocence for their protection).
Yet our own experiences of life force us to take a more mature view of the world and people around us. Our experiences of being hurt, trust being violated, and hatred by others, causes us to reject the innocent faith we need to embrace Christ’s teachings. Always it seems that even as we reach out to touch that tassel of Jesus’ cloak, we pull back, afraid of what will happen (or what will not).
Today we pray for faith, the innocent faith of a child, that through it we might experience the healing miracle of the woman with a hemorrhage who through her faith was cured. May God grant us trust in his infinite love and compassion this day.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Raising of the Daughter of Jairus” (detail) Paolo Veronese, c. 1546
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