Fr Frank writes:
My Dear Friends,
Today’s readings seem to take us back to Easter: Death, Healing, Raising from the Dead!
Our first reading tells us that death is not God’s doing. He wants us to live. However, we are not speaking of physical death here, but spiritual death, a separation from God. Eternal life isn’t just something for the future – it is ours now. Remember Jesus’ promise: I have come to bring you life, life in all its fullness. It’s not really a question of this life ending and another beginning, we are already on that journey to God – it’s a continuity.
The Gospel is about two healings. First the faith of Jairus ensures that his daughter is raised from the dead. In fact it is faith that links the two accounts. Faith and then healing. The woman has faith in Jesus – she reached out and touched and was made whole. This gift is ours too. We have only to acknowledge our need of him, and then reach out! He will do the rest.
This second healing is of particular interest as the woman concerned was ‘beyond the pale’. According to Jewish Law and Custom her condition excluded her from society – even from worship. She was unclean. Anyone touching her would become unclean too. Imagine her desperation. But for Jesus she was not ‘beyond the pale’, she was not unclean, she was not unworthy of his attention. What matters to Jesus is the thing he focusses on. Like Jairus she had FAITH.
We may consider ourselves to be ‘beyond the pale’ on occasions – but if we have FAITH we can reach out and receive that healing touch. We are never beyond Jesus’ attention.
Next weekend it will be a great joy to welcome Pat Ezra to all our Masses. Pat is the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) chaplain for East Anglia.
May our loving God deepen our faith and so bring us the healing we need.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile:
Notice from the maintenance committee at a Baptist chapel:
The toilet has had a face lift, including new light and tiles. The floor and windows still need to be done. An amplification unit has been installed which should be a great help to those who are hard of hearing.