Mark 5:21-43 or 5:21-24, 35b-43

Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24

Psalm 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13

2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15

Mark 5:21-43 or 5:21-24, 35b-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.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, you have power over sickness and death. You created me to enjoy eternal life with you. Heal me in the depths of my soul so that I may love you with all my heart, mind, and strength. Increase my faith so that I may entrust myself more fully to your loving care.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Authority Over Sickness and Death: Last Sunday, we heard how Jesus demonstrated his divine authority and power over nature by calming the storm and the sea (Mark 4:35-41). The next story in Mark’s Gospel continues the theme of Jesus’ divine authority and shows that he has power over demons (5:1-20). Today’s Gospel adds two more demonstrations of Jesus’ divine authority: He has authority over disease (Mark 5:25-34) and over death (Mark 5:21-24; 35-43). The two stories are connected by the number 12: The woman suffered a hemorrhage for 12 years and the little girl was only 12 when she died. As well, in both stories, the women are called “daughters.” Both stories manifest faith in Jesus: Jesus tells the woman that her faith has saved her and Jesus invites Jairus to put away fear and have faith. Gifts are generously bestowed in both stories: the woman received the gifts of faith, peace, healing, and salvation; the girl received the gift of restoration to life. Read together all four stories – the calming of the sea, the exorcism, curing the woman, restoring the girl to life – invite us to believe in Jesus’ divinity. Who is it that can calm the winds and sea? Who is it that can cast out demons? Who is it that can heal? Who is it that can raise us from the dead? Who is it that can overcome our fear and instill peace in our hearts? Jesus, the Son of God, can!

2. Life After Death: The Book of Wisdom contains the clearest teaching in the Old Testament on life after death. Our First Reading is Wisdom’s reflection on the opening chapters of Genesis. God, Wisdom teaches, did not create death. The Lord created being itself and declared that it is good. To some beings, God gave life. And to some living beings, to human beings created in God’s image and likeness, God gave the spiritual powers of intelligence and will. God formed us to be imperishable. The righteous, Wisdom declares, are God’s portion and will enjoy eternal life; the wicked, who belong to the devil, will experience eternal death. If our death, then, was not created by God, where does it come from? Wisdom responds that death entered the world “through the devil’s envy.” “Envy is a sinful sadness over the good fortune of others. The devil was envious of the greatness of God and of the good life given to humanity. Here for the first time in the Bible, the serpent in Genesis is explicitly identified as the devil (Greek diabolos). This brief verse reveals Wisdom’s interpretation of salvation history as the struggle of righteous wisdom seekers to obtain their immortal destiny and to avoid the death spiral of the ungodly” (Giszczak, Wisdom of Solomon, 49).

3. Jesus Became Poor so that We Might Become Rich: Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians contains a heartfelt appeal for money to help the Christians suffering in Jerusalem. “Several factors brought about dire poverty in the Jerusalem church – among them: drought and famine; heavy taxation, imposed both by Rome and by Jewish authorities; and the constant addition of Jewish converts, some of whom may have been shunned socially and economically, and thereby impoverished, because they chose to be baptized” (Stegman,Second Corinthians, 190). Before asking them to resume their participation in the collection for Jerusalem, Paul offers the example of how the Macedonians have been generous (2 Corinthians 8:1-7) and the supreme example of Jesus Christ’s “gracious act.” Although he was rich – enjoying divine life – the Son of God, Jesus Christ, became poor in assuming our human nature and in offering himself for us on the Cross. By his poverty, Jesus has attained for us the possibility of becoming rich and sharing in the divine nature and eternal life through grace. Paul praises the Corinthians for excelling in faith and knowledge, reminds them of his love for them, and asks that they excel in giving graciously. Paul wants them to contribute proportionally. They shouldn’t contribute so much to the poor in Jerusalem that they impoverish themselves in Corinth. Paul advocates for the principle of equality and refers to the story of the manna in the desert: “No matter how much or how little each person gathered, there was sufficient daily manna for all. But some of the Israelites attempted to hoard this food rather than trust in their daily allowance. Those who hoarded, however, found that their extra food rotted (Exodus 16:19-20)” (Stegman, Second Corinthians, 200). By recalling the Exodus story, Paul is teaching the Corinthians and us to trust in God our Father, to give generously, and to seek the just and equitable distribution of material goods.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I thank you for becoming poor so that I might become rich, not with the material wealth of this passing world, but with the spiritual wealth of heavenly life. Help me to know and alleviate the sufferings of those around me. May I become poorer in spirit each day and receive more abundantly the Kingdom of Heaven.

Living the Word of God: Am I giving to the poor and others according to my means? Am I greedily hoarding goods and wealth?