Tag: Jairus

Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel acclamation: “Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (today’s readings)

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.

Mark tells us about two intertwined miracles performed by Jesus: the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage and the raising of Jairus’s daughter from the dead. Jairus, a synagogue leader, falls at Jesus’ feet and begs him to go to his young, dying daughter. As Jesus makes his way, a woman who has been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years approaches him with a condition that has worsened over time. Believing that if she can just touch Jesus’ clothes, she will be healed of her affliction, she touches his garment and is immediately healed and tells Jesus “the whole truth.” Jesus then goes to Jairus’s daughter and hears that she has already died. He continues anyway, and despite facing ridicule for saying she is only sleeping, Jesus takes the girl by the hand, tells her to arise, and she immediately rises to new life. Jesus heals in two ways: by responding to Jairus’s desperate plea and by restoring the woman through her quiet faith. In both miracles, faith is the key.

Father in heaven, let me remember to come to you today whether for long-held afflictions or for acute, urgent needs. The quiet faith of the woman and the distressed prayer of Jairus both reveal ways to call out to you for your grace and healing. Strengthen my faith, Lord, and let me trust that when I bring myself before you, you already know what I need and will provide.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“The girl is not dead but sleeping.” | Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD and highly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. The Lord is gracious and merciful.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 9:18-26)

When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout all that land.

In today’s Gospel, Matthew relates the account of a double miracle Jesus performs. As Jesus is on the way to the synagogue official Jairus’s house, a woman who has been suffering from a bleeding disorder approaches him. Merely touching Jesus’ cloak, she is healed immediately, and Jesus tells her, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” At Jairus’s house, with the father and mother before their daughter, Jesus takes the girl by the hand and with a word raises her from the dead.

God, help me reflect carefully on today’s Gospel so that it will be a means throughout the day of praising you and giving you glory. Let me ponder in reverence and awe what the Gospel acclamation says about the mission of your Son: “Our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.” Give me the grace to trust in your mercy completely and know that you are with me throughout this day and always.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.