In today’s Gospel, I hear God the Father speaking through Christ to us, His Daughters, and Sons, both then and now. In His encounters with the man and the woman, the Lord’s words of love are those of the Father for His children.
A Woman and Jairus
Amidst the crowds, there are two main characters, the hemorrhaging woman hidden in the crowd and unseen. And Jairus, a public figure. In contrast, outspoken and up front in his plea for mercy. In many ways, they represent us too. Some of us live simple, ordinary lives like the woman, while others of us live in the public eye, like Jairus. Yet, to the Father, we are all his children regardless of state in life or our prestige.
The woman in today’s story was not just hidden in her life, but further, was considered unclean by the standards of the day, yet, through Hope believed that if she “just touched his garment that she would be healed.” Our Lord had a great Love for this child of His and wanted her to know it; so, he called out inquiring who had touched Him before she could disappear again into the crowded street. This in turn, drew the woman to Him, face to face in her suffering.
This call of God was not to scold, but to acknowledge her wholeness, her faith, her worthiness in His eyes that she deserved love and healing despite what the world taught her. “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.” What tender words of Love He gave in response to this person’s faith and hope in Him.
Again, He shows us in Jairus, a public official, that as Jairus selflessly only cared about his ailing daughter, Jesus noticed and in the privacy of his home, raised his daughter back to life. (The interesting detail to wonder about is that Jairus came to him and pleaded publicly but Jesus healed in private, while the woman came to him in private so to speak, yet he spoke of healing publicly.)
The Father’s Message
These two stories are the same. To God, He just asks of us our Faith. “Your faith has healed you.” is a message that echoes through so many of the gospel passages. Yet today the Father, through our Lord, sends us a special message of tenderness for those who suffer sickness or other types of ailments or loss like Jairus. The weak go to Him, The Divine Physician, for healing and help. “Have mercy on Us, Lord. Heal us,” we may often cry in our own personal prayer much like the woman or Jairus. Enduring Illnesses, struggles, or hardships often seem unbearable to us, and so, we too, turn to God in Faith. “Lord, I am scared. I want to hold this Cross like you, but it has been so long, like the hemorrhaging woman, and is so heavy, I cannot endure it without You.”
Our Lord answers us in our suffering just as He did to the crowds and to the synagogue official here: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” In a special way, he holds us in our pain as we look at the Cross and in turn, hold Him in His.
Words of Consolation
I have turned to these words so often myself in difficult times or times when I am asked to do something that I think is beyond my capabilities. In the last few years, I personally suffered a serious brain injury from a concussion and like the Gospel today, went to many doctors one after another until the breadcrumbs were no longer there to follow. I heard the words all too familiar “had spent all that she had.”
The hemorrhaging woman has long been a patron of mine as she inspires me in her story and her deep, unrelenting Faith. In spending all that she had, she turned to the one she knew would know how to help her. For me too, I met Christ in a different way in my own injury and suffering, and got a glimpse of his Face, and got to look into His eyes as I chose to run to him like this woman, in my pain. The graces flowed like it did from Christ to her. This is what began my great and deep affection for the Eucharist in Adoration specifically. I could see the same face of Christ she saw, and He gave such rich meaning to my suffering, a way to behold Him and to Love Him more; but also, to help Him in carrying His Redemptive Cross.
Poverty
Many of us become discouraged and experience poverty of many kinds; financial, physical, or emotional, but the grace of God is always being offered to us and is there for us to embrace and experience in new ways. Do not weep, he tells us, He will give us what we need so have no fear. Let any suffering or hardship bring us closer to Him. Let it change and transform us, our hearts and our understanding of God and His love for us. Sometimes physical healing will be the gift our Father gives to us. Other times, it will be a different healing or gift. See with the eyes of Faith what He is sending to you.
Many times, the phrase “spent all she had” seems to indicate money, but it can be so many things. Energy, time, patience, hope – she spent all that she had. We become weary like this woman and can be discouraged when we suffer pain or deprivation of any kind. Yet, this is also where any of us can see the face of God when we look for Him there. This is where we feel the gentle hands of Our Father hold us and say, “It will be ok. Do not be afraid.”
Strength of Faith
In the Gospel of today, there were crowds both waiting on the shore and then, subsequently, following our Lord. I think of a busy market scene in the middle east. Or, any country where you push through many people just to go forward. Yet this woman, with so little left in her body, such weariness and physical weakness from the loss of blood, got to Him. This encourages us that the strength of Faith can do all things. She knew, “all I need is to touch his Cloak and I will have more than all the doctors could give me.”
Today as we meet Christ in these readings, open your heart to see healing. See love. And, to see the call to deeper faith. He wants to sit with you and have you bring Him your struggles. He is always there for us with the same comforting words: “Do not be afraid.” Then when we embrace Him, we will hear: “Daughter, (Son) your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your afflictions.”
