Posted by The WORD in Other Words by Fr Deva Savariyappan, SVD (Philippines)
He gives his time for all and reaches out to all: rich or poor; man or woman; worthy or unworthy. This forms the core message of the Good News today.
In the gospel there’s a rich and influential Jewish official, the leader of the synagogue, whose daughter has just died. There’s also a poor woman who has been bleeding for 12 years. Both of them desperately need help.
The official formally invites Jesus, whereas the woman only comes up behind Jesus and touches the edge of his cloak. Jesus has a formal request for help from the official, while the woman just takes the opportunity, not even saying any word to Jesus. But the Lord doesn’t tell the woman to wait until he is done with the Jewish official.
For Jesus “mercy knew no bounds.” Nothing can stop Jesus to attend to the poor suffering woman even if she has no formal appointment with him. He heals her first before proceeding to the official’s house.
Two things can be learnt from the gospel: first, the example of Jesus should inspire us to treat everyone (big or small) equally. Secondly, Jesus wants both the woman and the official’s daughter to be freed from their respective illnesses. Therefore it is his wish that we too be healed of whatever illnesses we are suffering from – be it emotional, psychological or physical.
No matter who we are, all He wants is that we have an unwavering faith like that of the Jewish official who in spite of his daughter having just died came to Jesus, and a daring trust like that of the woman who says, “If only I touch his cloak, I will get well.”
Source – Bible Diary 2020
