Fr. Jeff’s Weekly Homily

July 2, 2006

READING 1: Wisdom 1:13 -15, 2:23 -24
God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living.

Psalm 30
I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

READING 2: 2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15
For you know the graciousness of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich....as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their needs…

GOSPEL: Mark 5:21 -43
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 and pressed upon 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 Jesus, “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.

I saw a cartoon strip in which a tiny insect is looking up at a much larger specimen. “What kind of insect are you?” asks the puzzled little bug. “I’m a praying mantis,” is the reply. “That’s stupid,” says the tiny bug, “insects don’t pray!” Whereupon the praying mantis grabs the tiny bug by the throat and begins to squeeze. Caught in this desperate situation, his bulging eyes rolling heavenward, the tiny bug says, “Our Father Who art in heaven….”

Why do you think people think of prayer as a last option rather than the first? Jairus, the Synagogue official who would have been wealthy and well connected had to know about Jesus. Why did he wait until his daughter was at the threshold of death to go to Jesus? The woman with the hemorrhage had gone through twelve years with doctors and spent all of her money and was now poor. She obviously knew about Jesus or she never would have gone to him. Why did she wait until she was desperate?

I’d like to suggest there could be two main reasons we might not go directly to Jesus with our problems before they become catastrophic: feelings of independence and feelings of insignificance.

This weekend, we are celebrating Independence Day. We are a “can do” people and we tend to be proud of our independent natures. Sometimes we think we are big enough to solve our own problems.

A boy handed the phone to his mom after talking a bit with his grandmother. When mom got the phone the grandmother said how proud she was to hear that her grandson had achieved an award for excellence in science and math that was called the “Right Thinking Award.” The boy’s mom said, “Yes, and this is quite an honor for a boy who just tried to make two quarts of lemonade fit into a one-quart pitcher.” When two year olds start taking off on their own two legs, they feel quite independent, but we know they are not. When the training wheels come off the bikes, new horizons beckon, but that doesn’t mean we are independent. When we leave home for college, we are free of the parental control, but we are not independent. A man said, “My wife and I have celebrated every step in our daughter’s life, but I hope she never gets to the point where she feels so grown up she won’t call her daddy.” God feels the same way about us. Our Independence Day celebrations ought to remind us that we are not independent from our Father God.

There are other times when we feel insignificant. When you think about it most of our problems are about the same. We’re not likely to have to deal with world conflict. I am not likely to receive a call from Pope Benedict XVI asking me to resolve a moral dilemma. We’re late for a meeting. We leave something at the office. A co-worker forgets a report. We’re carrying around an extra 10 pounds. The waves rocking our lives are not life threatening yet. But they can be. A poor response to a simple problem can light a fuse. What begins as a snowflake can snowball into an avalanche unless proper care is taken. We might think that Jesus doesn’t need to hear my problems. Besides he’s got famines in Africa and wars to deal with. I don’t want to trouble him. But he does want us to go to him when the problem is small enough to comprehend.

We know most about God through Jesus and what Jesus said and did. He told us that God knows when a sparrow falls from a tree and we are far more important than a sparrow. If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it! Whenever you want to talk, he’ll listen. God can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart! The last thing we should worry about is whether we are a nuisance to God. And, when people came to Jesus with their troubles loved them and helped them. He didn’t ask anyone to make themselves worthy first. He calmed stormy seas, he touched lepers, and he healed the woman with the hemorrhage and Jairus’ daughter.

He says to us as he said to Jairus: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” Do you know that the phrase, “Do not be afraid,” appears 366 times in the Bible? Do you think God may be trying to tell us something? Would you refuse to do what God tells us? That’s possible. God is asking us to take some pretty gutsy steps. You’ve been offended, but he asks you to forgive your offender. Someone blew the assignment, but he still asks you to be patient. Money is tight, but he still asks you to give. You can’t see the face of God, but he still asks you to have faith and not be afraid.

It is simple, really, we just need to Identify the problem. Bring it to Jesus. Do what he says. Then don’t be afraid. Expect Good News!

Fr. Jeff McGowan
Queen of Peace Catholic Community
Gainesville, Florida