The oldest gospel is of St Mark written from Rome some around 40 years after the death of Jesus. It contains specially the report about four miracles of Jesus which express the power of Jesus over sickness and death confessing Jesus as the promised Messiah.
In today’s Gospel we heard the story of a healing and a rresurrection from the dead. A woman who suffered from a serious illness for 12 years was suddenly healed with a touch of Jesus. To get healed, the woman touched Jesus’ garment. While the woman being healed, Jesus noticed that the power was coming out from him. The woman’s deep conviction and strong faith were the reason for her healing.
When the daughter of the ruler of the Synagoge was resurrected, it was the other way around. In this case, Jesus touched the child. Although the synagogue‘s leader and many people there believed in the healing power of Jesus, they had given up hope when the child died. But Jesus encouraged them and reawakened their faith and hope.
In both cases happened what was not possible for human. In both cases it was proved that God can do what is impossible for human.
The events of today’s gospel are considered by bible scholars as the miraculous healing by Jesus although one among them is the resurrection from the dead. The reason is that death was considered as the climax of sickness. In the healing of both events the lady believed in the healing power of Jesus and touched him. Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, asked Jesus to come to his house because he also believed that Jesus could heal his daughter.
As Jesus heard the news about the death of the daughter of Jairus Jesus said not to be afraid and to believe. One of the main reasons for the miraculous healing is the faith of the people who were healed. Those who wanted to be healed should believe in it and be convinced of it.
Once Jesus said about the faith of the people that if they had a little faith like that of a mustard seed, then they could command a mountain to change its place, (Mt17:20) it would obey. In the letter to the Hebrews we read : „Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). The author of the letter to the hebrews says in his letter that the patriarchs of the Bible and the other witness to the faith have become role models of faith.
When we consider the miraculous healing of Jesus and the other different miraculous healings in different periods and different places we can conclude that a deep faith was there in every healing. An important example of it is the healing in Lourdes and other places. In pilgrimages or in prayer meetings people are inspired and experience mental peace and harmony and they become convinced in their faith which all help them to have miraculously healing.
How we explain such healing depend on the faith of each individual and on the different perspectives of the physical and psychological conditions of the people and their ability to accept the interventions of God. That fact is that many have experienced the healing which they wanted to have. Where there is no faith there is no miraculous healing.
Pope Francis has written a book with the title: “Dare to Dream.” There are three parts in this book. The first part is called time to see, the second part is called time to choose and the third part is called time to do. In the first part of this book, the Pope describes three different pandemic experiences in his life. I find the first pandemic experience of his life significant in the context of today’s Gospel.
The Pope writes that he entered the diocesan seminary at the age of 19 to become a priest! But at the age of 21 he became seriously ill and had to have one of his lungs removed. For many months he didn’t know whether he would survive and the doctors didn’t know either. During this serious illness, Pope Francis experienced pain, loneliness and uncertainty on all levels. The Pope says that from his own experience he can know how difficult it is, e.g. B. Corona sufferers suffer from severe shortness of breath. He also writes how people sometimes talk unnecessarily and give false hope when a person is fighting between life and death. He knows how difficult it is for a seriously ill person to meet such people at their bedside because he himself had this experience during his serious illness. He names two nurses who helped him with their many years of experience and sometimes made decisions without consulting the doctors. The Pope describes that such decisions saved his life. He doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t follow the attitudes and decisions of doctors, but rather that many years of professional and life experience can make a big difference and that many things in life can be thought about, experienced and regulated beyond knowledge and guidelines. The Pope describes that during his period of illness he found a lot of time to think about his future and decided at that time to become a Jesuit.
Similar to the healing of Pope Francis’ serious illness in his youth, it happened in both cases of healing and resurrection in today’s Gospel. The healing of the woman and the resurrection of the synagogue leader’s daughter were inconceivable to the people of that time, even though they believed in Jesus’ supernatural ability.
Even today we are sometimes speechless, at some events and experiences in our lives and at some events in our world. There are many things in life that we cannot understand and many things that, according to our ideas and experiences, are impossible and show no way out. This sometimes makes people inactive, sick or depressed.
As Pope Francis writes, dare to dream, dare to do what is possible, try to see how Jesus shows it through the healing of a woman and the resurrection of the deceased girl. The message of the Gospel can encourage us that, in the midst of hopelessness, we too should dare to do something, to dream, to look for a way out, or to see and dare a new future in the face of unexpected and impossible obstacles. The Pope recommends and wishes that we should not return to the old days of the pre-corona era, but that we must look forward and dare to enter a new era. The post-corona period does not necessarily have to be bad, but rather that with new dreams, with new hope and with courageous actions we can dare to create a new, perhaps better future. I would like to echo the Pope’s thoughts and wish us all new hope, new joy and perhaps a new way and style in everyday life.
Fr. Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS