Palmerstone North Evening Standard
When I was in New Zealand in 1973 I read this fascinating
comment in a newspaper article by the Director of Radiotherapy and Radiology in
that country: 'Cancer makes people start thinking of their lives. Everything
they do has a keener edge on it and they get more out of life.
In fact, some people never became complete human beings and
really start living until they get cancer. We all know we are going to die some
time, but cancer makes people face up to it. They are going to go on living
with a lot of enjoyment, just because they have faced the fear of death. Cancer
patients aren't dying. They are living. I have never seen a suicide because of
cancer.' Anthony Castle in 'Quotes and Anecdotes'
Today's gospel describes the healing power of Jesus as he
reveals God's power at work restoring life and health through his healing
touch. Both the faith of the woman suffering for twelve long years, and the
faith of Jairus who was about to lose his daughter are stressed. Both incidents
have much to teach us about faith helping us to go beyond. Jairus, the leader
of the synagogue, came to Jesus begging for a cure for his daughter. Jairus'
request showed that he believed that Jesus possessed a supernatural power. He
came in humility and Jesus acceded to his request and set out for his house.
While they were on their way the news came that his daughter had died. The
messengers suggest that there was no point in troubling Jesus; the case was
hopeless. But neither Jairus nor Jesus gives up. Jesus encourages Jairus,
"Don't be afraid; only believe." Jesus goes into the child's room
with the parents and taking the girl by her hand raises her to life.
"Little child I say to you arise." And the child arose and began to
walk. The same Jesus brings healing to the woman who suffered for twelve long
years, who believed she would be healed if she touched the hem of his garment.
But Jesus did not want it to be a quick-fix magical affair. He seeks her from
the crowd, and points to her faith. "Your faith has healed you." God
can come into our life even through what we consider insignificant and dirty
-the hem of the garment!
"I only have a small pan!"
Two men went fishing. One man was an experienced fisherman,
the other wasn't. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he
put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman
caught a big fish, he threw it back. The experienced fisherman watched this go
on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish. "Why
do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked. The
inexperienced fisherman replied, "I only have a small frying pan."
Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throw back the big plans, big dreams, big
jobs, and big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small. We laugh
at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying
pan; yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith? Whether it's a
problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger than you can
handle. That means we can confidently walk into anything God brings our way. He
can see all things through.
Anonymous
God always answers our prayers
The waters of the dam had burst their banks, and a veritable
tidal wave was heading towards the nearest town. The police drove up the main
street, calling on all people to vacate their homes and to avail of the
transport provided for a quick exit out of town. One man, who knew about the
danger, refused the offer, because he has prayed to God and he felt it was now
up to God to take care of him. Shortly afterwards, the waters came roaring down
the main street, and all ground floors were under water. The man was forced to
retreat upstairs. He was at a front window when a boat came by, and the people
in the boat tried to persuade him to get in the boat and come with them to
safety. Once again, the man insisted that he had asked God to help him, and
that God would look after him. After some time the water rose so high that the
man was forced to climb up on the roof. Soon a helicopter came along but, once
again, he refused the offer of help, because God was going to take care of him.
Anyhow, surprise! Surprise! The man drowned. He arrived at the gates of heaven
in a very angry and belligerent mood and asked Peter, what happens when someone
like him asks for help. This puzzled Peter, who explained that, yes, God always
answers prayers. He brought out the logbook of prayer, asked the man his name,
and began to check the records. After a while he looked at the man, and said,
'Yes, there is a record here of your prayers. What puzzles me, though, is that
there is also a record here of several answers to those prayers. It says here
that we sent you the police, a group of people in a boat, and we even sent you
a helicopter. Whatever happened to all that help? Didn't they show up?' Jack
McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel truth!'
Receiving in giving
I know a ranch in Colorado at the base of a mountain. From snowfields hundreds of feet above, two streams trickle down and divide. One grows until its waters are caught up by skilled engineers and made to irrigate a thousand ranches. The other runs into a blind valley and spreads into a lake with no outlet. There it poisons itself. In it are the carcasses of cattle who, thirsty and eager, have come to drink of the tainted flood. Some of them still stand upright in the miry bottom, their heads bent into the bitter tide, their flesh falling from their bones. The first lake has an outlet. It loses itself on a mesa and gives drink to the homes of men. The other turns upon itself and kills everything it touches. One loses life and finds it again in generosity. -the other loses life in stagnation, never to find it again. George Stewart
Merchant of death or life?
About eighty years ago a man picked up the morning paper
and, to his horror, read his own obituary! The newspaper had reported the death
of the wrong man. Like most of us, he relished the idea of finding out what
people would say about him after he died. He read past the bold caption which
read, "Dynamic King Dies," to the text itself. He read along until he
was taken aback by the description of him as a "merchant of death."
He was the inventor of dynamite and had amassed a great fortune from the
manufacture of weapons of destruction. But he was moved by this description.
Did he really want to be known as a "merchant of death"? It was at
that moment that a healing power greater than the destructive force of dynamite
came over him. It guided him so that his energy and money moved to works of
peace and human betterment. Today, of course, he is best remembered, not as a
"merchant of death," but as the founder of the Nobel Peace Prize -
Alfred Nobel. Anonymous
Story to heal
Martin Buber tells the story of his paralyzed grandfather
who was asked to relate a story about his great teacher, the famous and holy
Baal Shem Tov. The grandfather replied by telling how the holy man used to jump
up and down and dance when he was praying. Being swept up in the fervour of the
narrative, the grandfather himself stood up and began to jump and dance to show
how the master had done it. At that moment the grandfather was completely
healed of his paralysis.
Brian Cavanaugh in 'The 'Sower's Seeds'
"Illnesses exist to remind us that we are not made of
wood!"(Van Gogh). A painful experience causes us to reflect on our lives,
and teaches us to be compassionate towards other sufferers. Compassion is not
learnt without suffering.
*********
From Fr. Tony Kadavil:
1: “Do not be afraid; just have Faith.”Ann
Jillian, a three-time Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning
actress and singer, is an American actress
born to Lithuanian Roman
Catholic immigrant parents. Since 1985, she has added motivational
speaking to her impressive list of credits, addressing business, medical,
professional and women’s groups with her own unique blend of humor and
inspiration. Her prowess extends from the world’s concert halls, to feature
film and the Broadway stage. She has starred in over 25 TV movies and
made hundreds of other TV appearances. Her TV movie, The Ann Jillian
Story, which recounts her victory over breast cancer, was the #1 film
of that TV season, but, more important, it delivered Ann’s message about the
hopeful side of breast cancer to its millions of viewers. It was in 1985
that the then 35-year-old actress made headlines when she was diagnosed
with breast
cancer. On her way to the hospital to check the nature of the growth
which she had noticed, she stopped at St. Francis de Sales Church and read
the inscription on the door. “The same everlasting Father who cares for
you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield
you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at
peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.” She
went into the Church and prayed for the strength to accept her ordeal. The
radiant trust in God and peace of mind she maintained before and after the
surgery (double mastectomy), was big news in the media and a great inspiration
for all cancer patients. She trusted in Jesus’ words given in today’s
Gospel, “Do not be afraid; just have Faith.” Actually, this
phrase is repeated in the Bible 365 times. [Source:
www.believersportal.com/list-365-fear-not-bible-verses/] Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2: Each patient carries his own doctor inside himself: The
great missionary physician, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, said it simply and
realistically: “Each patient carries his own doctor inside himself. They come
to us [physicians] not knowing that truth. We are best when we give the doctor
who resides within each patient a chance to work.” — Are you giving the “doctor
who resides” within you the chance to work? Are you giving the “doctor who
resides” within your spouse, your child, your significant other, the chance to
work? Here is a little self-administered test from a study by Dr. Carl
Simonton. Answer these questions, yes or no. Do you have a tendency to hold
resentment? Yes or no. Would you rather carry a grudge than forgive? Yes or no.
Would you rather cry in self-pity than invite a friend out for dinner? Yes or
no. Do you have a problem developing and maintaining long-term relationships?
Yes or no. Do you have a low self image? Yes or no. If you answer with more
“yeses,” by Dr. Simonton’s test study, you are not giving the “doctor who
resides within” you the best chance to work. A “yes” means you are most
vulnerable to illness. (Adapted from Bruce Larson, There is a Lot More
to Health Than Not Being Sick, pp. 138-139.) Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3: Widow of Dr. Martin Luther King: The whole world was
saddened when Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died in
a medical clinic in Mexico. What was she doing in Mexico? It’s simple. Doctors
in the United States had told her they could do no more for her. The clinic in
Mexico offered hope. That hope may have been an illusion, but who can blame
her? We’ll do anything for hope. Ask someone who has been in chronic pain and
has discovered that even the finest medical professionals don’t have a clue
about how to stop their pain. Many of these sufferers will go to any lengths to
find someone who can give them relief. Wouldn’t you? — The woman with chronic
hemorrhage in today’s first Gospel story, comes to Jesus with trusting Faith.
She has heard that this is the physician she has been looking for. Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4: Healed by laughter: “A
cheerful heart is good medicine” (Prv 17:22). In the 1300’s, surgeon,
Henri de Mondeville reportedly told jokes to his patients in the recovery
room. Laughter exercises the face, shoulders, diaphragm, and abdomen.
When the breathing deepens, the heart rate rises, and the blood takes up
and transports more oxygen. Endorphins are released, pain thresholds are
raised, and some studies suggest that even our immune systems are boosted. When
we laugh, others laugh too. — Laughter is a contagious, highly effective,
non-prescription medicine. It has no side effects, and no one is allergic
to it. Have we had our dose of laughter today? We can use the tool of humor to
induce laughter for our health, healing and general sense of well-being. We can
even spend time in daily practicing our laughing out loud – maybe by smiling
first, then leaning into a giggle, and then in outright belly laughs!
5: “I’m on disability!” A deaf man, a blind man
and a disabled man heard a rumor that God had come down to a Church in the
village to heal the sick. They all went to find out if it was true. God signed
to the deaf man, “Can I help you, son?” The man signed back that he would be so
happy if he could hear again. God touched the man and suddenly he could hear.
God then touched the blind man and he was able to see. The third man was
sitting in his wheelchair with his mouth wide open in amazement. God looked at
the man and asked him what he wanted. The man drew back and yelled, “Don’t lay
one finger on me! I’m on disability!”
6: A pastor joke: One Sunday at Mass as
the priest was giving his homily, a little baby in the front row suddenly
started crying loudly. The mother did her best to pacify the child, but nothing
worked. So finally, she got up and started to walk down the aisle to take the
baby into the cry room. The priest stopped his preaching, and very
compassionately called out to the mother, “That’s OK! You don’t have to leave.
The child isn’t disturbing me.” The young woman turned around and said, “No,
pardon me Father, but you’re disturbing my child!”
18- Additional anecdotes
1) “This is where I found Christ.” Here is a
beautiful old story about Zacchaeus, the tax collector. It tells how, in later
years, he rose early every morning and left his house. His wife, curious,
followed him one morning. At the town well he filled a bucket… and he walked
until he came to a sycamore tree. There, setting down the bucket, he began to
clean away the stones, the branches, and the rubbish from around the base of
the tree. Having done that, he poured water on the roots and stood there in
silence, gently caressing the trunk with both of his hands. When his amazed
wife came out of hiding and asked what he was doing, Zacchaeus replied simply,
“This is where I found Christ.” I can just imagine that for the rest of their
lives, that woman who touched the tassel of Jesus’ robe that day on the street…
and the daughter of Jairus who was raised up in that room in her home,
continually brought people back to those sacred spots and said, “This is where
I found Christ! This is where Christ loved me into life!” — Do you have a
sacred spot like that? This is the Good News of our Christian Faith, isn’t it!
Love has the power to heal, to reconcile, and to redeem. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) Healing touch: Studies at the University of
California-Los Angeles Medical Center; Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kansas;
and Scott and White Clinic, Temple, Texas, have shown that hugging communicates
tenderness, gentleness, caring-ness –behaviors essential for healing of both
body and soul. Hugging, they say, relieves many physical and emotional
problems, helps people live longer, maintains health, relieves stress, and
promotes sleep. The studies also show that hemoglobin, the portion of blood
that carries oxygen, increases significantly when people are touched. There’s
your answer for those who say the Peace Exchange is artificial! And it
certainly gives husbands and wives, parents and children, and significant
others good reason to hug and hug and hug! – Jesus believed in and made good
use of, the essential healing touch, even when someone else, believing, did the
touching, for that touch drew out Divine Power, power, and virtue, and brought
healing to the one who had reached out in Faith for it. — Let’s remember that. It’s
a good reason to keep human touch on a high level. Keep in touch with Jesus by
Faith and you’ll feel power and newness flowing into and through you. There is
healing in the touch! Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
3) Physical touch made the difference: The
Menninger Institute in Topeka, Kansas once had a fascinating experiment. They
identified a group of crib babies who did not cry. Let me explain. It seems
that babies cry because they instinctively know that that is the way to get
attention. Crying is their way of calling out. These babies, however, had been
in abusive situations. Their parents let them cry for hours on end and never
responded. Do you know what happened? The babies eventually quit crying. It was
almost as though they knew that it was not worth trying. So the Menninger
Institute came in for an experiment. They got some people from retirement and
even nursing homes, and every day these people held these babies and rocked
them. The object was to get these children to start crying again. And you know,
it worked. Physical touch had made the difference. — Today’s Gospel tells us
how Jesus’ touch healed a woman and resuscitated a girl. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
4) “It was a good day for me”: There is a story
about the fourth-century Greek “Cynic Philosopher,” Diogenes of Sinilope. On a
voyage to Aegina, he was captured by pirates and sold as a slave in Crete. As
he gazed at the bystanders who were bidding for him, he looked at a man and
told the pirate chief, “Sell me to that man because he needs a master.” The man
who bought him was a Corinthian by name Xeniades. “What is your trade?” asked
Xeniades. “The only trade I know is that of governing men by teaching them the
art of virtuous self-control,” replied Diogenes. Xeniades was so impressed by
his philosopher-slave that he promptly handed over to him the management of his
household and the education of his children. “It was a good day for me,”
Xeniades used to tell his friends, “when Diogenes entered my household.” —
Jairus, the father of the girl Jesus raised from death, as described in today’s
Gospel, must have given a better compliment to Jesus in expressing his
commitment to Jesus and Faith in his Divinity. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) Jesus Christ the healer: There was a
television program hosted by Barbara Walters sometime back, on which she
interviewed three celebrities: Johnny Carson, Johnny Cash, and Walter Cronkite.
According to one viewer, Johnny Carson came across as the typical jaded playboy
hedonist. Everything he said telegraphed the fact that he was living for
pleasure, but, having tried everything and been everywhere he was fed up with
the whole thing. Walter Cronkite was the suave humanist, the worldly
philosopher. Now retired and wealthy, he was enjoying life as best he could. He
was looking at life rather philosophically, but all he really was saying was,
“That’s the way it is!” Johnny Cash, on the other hand, admitted his background
of alcoholism and drug addiction and the fact that he had virtually destroyed a
marriage and wrecked his life. But he openly said he had found Jesus. There was
peace in his eyes and contentment in his voice. Cash spoke of a hope for the
future which neither of the others had. http://www.pbc.org/dp/stedman/john/3848.html).
— No doctor could have healed Johnny Cash. Only Christ could do that. Only
Christ can heal a broken marriage. Only Christ can heal broken relationships
within a family. Only Christ can give us hope when everyone else is telling us
that there is no hope to be found. Only Christ can deliver us from sin. Only
Christ can save us – if we choose to be saved. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) “He is Jesus Christ”: Lloyd Ogilvie, former
pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church and a popular speaker and writer, once
spoke at a large convention. The woman who introduced him began by saying, “We
have a very unusual privilege tonight. In our midst is without a doubt the
world’s finest communicator. He is extremely sensitive, alert, compassionate
and wise. He can sense a person’s true needs immediately and speak just the
right word to heal a hurt.” Dr. Ogilvie later confessed that he felt both
flattered and frightened. How could he live up to all that? He didn’t have to.
For as the woman came to the end, she said, “We are in for a tremendous
experience tonight because this supreme Lover of people is in our midst. Who is
He? He is Jesus Christ. And now here is a man named Lloyd Ogilvie who will tell
us about Him” (Rev. Dave Wilkinson). — Jesus is the Supreme Lover of people.
“He can sense a person’s true needs immediately and speak just the right word
to heal a hurt.” Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
7) The Sequoia trees of California tower as much
as 300 feet above the ground. Strangely, these giants have unusually shallow
root systems that reach out in all directions to capture the greatest amount of
surface moisture. Seldom will you see a redwood standing alone, because high winds
would quickly uproot it. That is why they grow in clusters. Their intertwining
roots provide support for one another against the storms. — When WE gather
together, we provide similar support. Pain and suffering and illness come to
all of us. But, just like those giant Sequoia trees, we can be supported in
those difficult times by the knowledge that we have one another; we are not
alone. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) “The child is not dead but asleep.” Martin
College in Pulaski, Tennessee has one of the oldest cemeteries in the state in
Pulaski, dated back to 1810-1850. They have made a park of it and placed all of
the tombstones where they can be easily read. It is heart-wrenching to see that
one out of three graves is that of a child, a stark reminder of the incredible
infant mortality rate in those rugged days. But I noticed something else. On
almost every tombstone of a child, there is chiseled on the bottom of the stone
Jesus’ words: “The child is not dead but asleep.” It was then that
I realized how many tens of thousands of parents throughout the last 2,000
years have taken so much comfort from these words. These are words of hope. Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) “Aren’t you glad I walk with the Lord, Earl?” Pat
Kelly, a major league outfielder in the ’70s, was a born-again Christian. One
day Pat said to his manager, Earl Weaver, “Aren’t you glad I walk with the
Lord, Earl?” Weaver replied, “I’d rather you walked with the bases loaded.”
When one football coach was asked about his offensive team’s execution he
replied, “I’m all for it.” — Sports are popular because they are a metaphor for
our life experience. You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you feel like the
champion of the world. Sometimes you just feel beaten up. “I’m sometimes up and
I’m sometimes down,” says the old spiritual, “sometimes I’m almost to the
ground.” And we’ve been there. And so have the people who trek across the pages
of our Bible. Our lesson for today is about two people who felt beaten up. One
was a righteous Jew named Jairus whose daughter was dying. The other heartsick
person in our story is a woman who had been ill for twelve years with an issue
of blood that doctors couldn’t cure. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) “What is the healthiest hour of the week?” : Dr.
Granger Westberg, the founder of Wholistic Medicine, Inc., Chicago, Illinois,
asks this question when he talks to nurses, doctors, and pastors: “What is the
healthiest hour of the week?” How would you answer that question? Dr. Westberg
surprises many people by answering, “The hour of worship on Sunday morning.”
Why is that true? In order to answer that question we need to consider two
other questions which Dr. Westberg often puts to his audiences: (1) What is the
major factor in sickness? and (2) What is the major factor in health? How would
you answer those questions? One medical study shows that the major cause of
sickness is desiring revenge. Dr. Westberg quotes a survey of stroke patients
most of whom admitted that there was someone against whom they felt a
significant desire for revenge. In many cases, that desire for revenge is a
repressed feeling, an attitude instead of an expressed action. That same
medical study shows that the major factor in staying healthy is gratitude. —
The ancient psalmists had the right idea: “Praise is comely for the upright.”
Worship at its best offers the opportunity to resolve conflict through
forgiveness and to express feelings of gratitude through praising God for His
acts of grace and mercy. At its best, the Church is a healing community. The
Church can only be at its best when the members center on and conform
themselves to Jesus, the Healer as described in today’s healing stories. Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) Christians are called to be compassionate, “wounded
healers.”
Perhaps Henri Nouwen, the Catholic theologian, has said this better than anyone
else. The author of many books, Nouwen speaks of Christians as “wounded
healers” who have compassion. Compassion is not pity. Pity lets us stay at a
distance. It is condescending. Compassion is not sympathy. Sympathy is for
superiors to give to inferiors. Compassion is not charity. Charity is for the
rich to continue in their status over the poor. Compassion is born of God. It
means entering into the other person’s problems. It means taking on the burdens
of the other. It means standing in the other person’s shoes. It is the opposite
of professionalism. It is the humanizing way to deal with people. “Just as
bread without love can bring war instead of peace, professionalism without
compassion will turn forgiveness into a gimmick.” Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) Transformer of sufferings into a life with purpose: Once
the people of Chile and Argentina argued over the boundary between their two
countries. Later, they agreed to live at peace and erected a statue to remind
them of that agreement. The Argentine sculptor melted down cannons from his
country’s army to form a statue of Christ. It stands today in the Andes
Mountains on the border between the two countries. One hand of Christ holds a
cross while the other is raised in a blessing. For Christ is that agent of
transforming power who changes hostilities into peace, injustices into
brotherhood, and sufferings into a life with purpose. — We can look forward to
the continuation of that power in his world beyond our boundary, as well.
Healing, knitting together fragile bits of our fractured bodies and souls,
remains God’s most basic on-going creative work in the cosmos. While God
continues to intervene as Divine Physician, He has already provided us with a
universal vaccine for our ills in the principle of love and the person of Jesus
Christ. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) “That’s it!” “That’s what, Leigh?” Tim
Hansel tells about a special friend of his who suffers from severe cerebral
palsy. She telephoned Tim one day and asked, “What does it mean for a horse to
be handicapped!?” Tim answered, “Well, Leigh, they usually handicap the
strongest horse by adding a little extra weight to make the race more fair.”
“Yeah, I know!” said Leigh. “Then what does it mean if you handicap a golfer?”
Tim said, “The poorer the golfer, the higher the handicap.” “Yeah, I know!”
Leigh said again. “And what does it mean . . .” They explored a number of
sports with the same conclusion. There was a long pause. Finally Leigh said,
“That’s it!” “That’s what, Leigh?” Tim asked. “That’s it!” Leigh said, “That’s
why God gave me such a big handicap . . . because I’m so special!” [Keep On
Dancin‘, (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Family Publishing, 1995), p. 110.]
— To a great extent, life is a matter of chance willed by God. A certain number
of people will be stricken with cerebral palsy. Leigh just happened to be among
the unlucky. God does not choose people to suffer from problems like cerebral
palsy; He permits it for His own reasons, always salvific. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) “Your Faith has made you well.” The advent
of genuinely science-based medicine at the dawn of the 20th-century had, we
thought, reduced illness to a collection of bothersome bacteria and other
microscopic marauders. Being sick was no longer anyone’s “fault”; it was no
longer a sign of weakness, sin, or Divine displeasure. Sickness was brought on
by outside invaders that broke down our body’s natural defenses. We had only to
find the right “magic bullet,” we thought, and all ills could be cured. Now,
everything is our own fault again. Our inability to handle stress effectively
clamps down our colon. A love affair with cream cheese and pepperoni pizza
clogs our arteries. Curling up with a good book instead of hitting the
stair-master has made our muscle tone horribly off-key and our cardiovascular
system out of breath. Everything that operates at a less than perfect level is
held up to us as evidence of yet another sin we have committed in our lives. —
When Jesus’ healing power wrought the miracle of health in the hemorrhaging
woman in this week’s Gospel text, Jesus immediately sought her out to speak
with her about her experience. Impressed by the power of her Faith, Jesus
proclaims, “Your Faith has made you well.” Furthermore, Jesus adds a standard
Jewish blessing “Go in peace.” Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) She never realized the miracle of her life when she
was living it. In Thornton Wilder’s play, Our Town, Emily
Webb comes back from the dead to the town of her childhood. There she finds all
her long-dead acquaintances alive and her mother and father, too. The town is
still the same as she remembers it when she was a child — except for one thing.
The sheer beauty and wonder of everything she sees is overwhelming. Every sight
and sound, every gesture of love, each tender grace between friends is almost
too much for her to bear. She had never realized the miracle of her life when
she was living it. — Faith is strengthened through the pleasure that comes from
remembering the miracle stories. But it’s not just that. When we choose Faith
over control and “let God be God,” we have a much better chance of experiencing
those miracles of God’s grace all around us right now. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) “I decided long ago that there are no strangers in my
world”: One of my favorite authors today is a professor at Loyola
University in Chicago. His name is Father John Powell. In addition to being a
best-selling writer, he is also a highly popular lecturer, teacher, and
counselor. In his book, entitled, Through the Eyes of Faith, he
tells about his prison ministry. About once a month, he visits a prisoner in
the state penitentiary. He describes how difficult that is for him personally…
the atmosphere is dismal, dark, depressing… and charged with suspicion.
However, on one occasion, Father Powell said he had an enlightening and
inspiring experience in that stern and somber prison environment. An elderly
woman was standing beside him as they moved through the visitor line. Together,
they went through numerous security checkpoints. They were required to produce
identification; they were required to pass through metal detectors; they were
led by heavily armed guards through countless doors made of strong steel bars.
And through it all, John Powell said he could not help but notice how this
sweet, dear woman was smiling warmly toward everyone, waving tenderly to the
guards and calling many of them by name, and greeting everyone in a kind and
loving way. John Powell was fascinated with her. She was absolutely radiant.
She was a ray of sunshine and a breath of fresh air in that sullen place.
Suddenly, John Powell said to her, “Gee, I’ll bet you bring a lot of love into
this world with your smiling face and words.” “Father,” she replied, “I decided
long ago that there are no strangers in my world. Only brothers and sisters.
Some of them I haven’t met yet.” Reflecting on that experience, John Powell
wrote this remarkable paragraph. Listen closely. He said: “That lady drew out
of me a deep and warm reaction of love. And gradually I came to realize that
people are not one thing, good or bad, but many things. In every human being
there is warmth, love, affection, but there is also hurt, anger, weakness. We
stimulate or draw out of them one or the other. It all depends upon our
approach, and our approach depends upon our attitude.” And then Father Powell
writes these concluding words: “This was the genius of Jesus. He took people
where they were and loved them into life. This is precisely what Jesus did for
… those whose lives He touched. He was a living portrait of love in action. And
the caption under the portrait reads: Please love one another as I have
loved you. Yes… this was the genius of Jesus. He took people where
they were and loved them into life.” [See John Powell, Through the Eyes
of Faith (Allen, Texas: Tabor Publishing, 1992), pp. 60-61.] — This is
precisely what we see Jesus doing here in this dramatic passage in Mark 5. He
is loving some needy and hurting people into life. This passage is a
fascinating one because here we have a story within a story. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
17) Death is not God’s doing: The untimely death
of Jesuit theologian and friend, Peter Arokiadoss, during Holy Week 2008
shocked us all. Arokiadoss had a persistent cough, diagnosed later as result of
metastases in the bile duct. Within days, Arokiadoss breathed his last. On the
eve of his death, when asked by a relative why God gave him a priest, such
sickness, Arokiadoss replied: “No, God didn’t give me this sickness. All of us
have cancer cells which are under control. Most likely because of my lifestyle
or food or sleeping habits, I might have given cause for these cells to grow
and destroy the good cells. God does not cause sickness; we cause it
ourselves.” — The opening words of today’s reading declare: “Death was
not God’s doing.” We often feel that God is the cause of all
births/deaths, but Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life, and have
it in abundance.” Indeed, God is a God of Life, and “death is not God’s
doing.” It is, rather, we who cause death in myriad forms – through our
sin, selfishness, pride, power-plays, greed, and godlessness. Nonetheless, the
Lord of Life bids us touch people and heal them. Are we ready to hold people’s
hands and cry out with the power of the Spirit: “Talitha, koum!” “Little
girl, (sick man, addicted youth, sorrowing widow, frustrated priest, failed
student …), Arise, Arise, arise!”?
[Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for daily Deeds; quoted by Fr. Botelho.] Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
18) Merchant of life or death? In 1888, a man
picked up the morning paper and, to his horror, read his own obituary! The
newspaper, reporting the death of the man’s brother, had misidentified him as
the man himself! Like most of us, the surviving brother relished the idea of
finding out what people would say about him after he died. He read past the
bold caption, “Dynamite King Dies,” to the text itself. He read along until he
was taken aback by the description of himself as a “merchant of death.” He was
the inventor of dynamite and had amassed a great fortune from the manufacture
of weapons of destruction among many other things. But he was moved by this
description. Did he really want to be known as a “merchant of death”? It was,
perhaps, at that moment that a healing power greater than the destructive force
of dynamite came over him and prompted him to establish in his will a series of
prizes honoring those who contributed to the world works of peace and human
betterment. — Today, of course, the man is best remembered, not as a “merchant
of death,” but as the founder of the Nobel Peace Prize – Alfred Nobel. [Anonymous;
quoted by Fr. Botelho.] Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
19) Power in weakness: Joseph Stalin, dictator
of Soviet Russia from 1924 to 1953, was an ex-Christian who had become an utter
materialist. After his death, even the Russian Communists reversed his ruthless
policies that had led to the “liquidation” (a nice word for killing) of
millions of people who got in his way. Materialistic dictators think in terms
of power, and power usually means armies and weapons. When the papacy was
brought into international diplomatic discussion in the 1930’s, Stalin asked
how many divisions of soldiers the Holy Father had at his disposal. Winston
Churchill told the story in his memoirs, The Second World War. It seems that in
1935 France signed a vague agreement with Soviet Russia to give mutual
assistance against aggression. French Premier Pierre Laval followed up the
treaty with a visit to Moscow, during which he discussed politics with Stalin.
Stalin was anxious to know just how many divisions of soldiers France had on
the western front. When Laval had told him, he also brought up another matter
that was important to France diplomatically. “Can’t you do something to
encourage religion and the Catholics in Russia?” the French premier dared to
ask the atheist dictator. “It would help me so much with the Pope.” “Oh” Stalin
replied. “The Pope! How many divisions has he got?” Laval knew he had been
brushed off. — The only army the Popes have is their small ceremonial Swiss
Guard. Militarily, they are powerless. But as a moral force, they are very
powerful. The papacy has outlived Hitler, Stalin, and a host of “Strongmen”
over the centuries. Popes can say, with St. Paul, “When I am powerless, it is
then that I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10. Today’s second reading.). -Father
Robert F. McNamara. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
********
From Sermons.com
Jairus' Daughter
Mark 5:21-43 - "The Healing of Jairus' Daughter
and the Hemorrhaging Woman"
Mark 5:21-43 - "Be Healed, Be Held" by
Leonard Sweet
A business executive became depressed. Things were not going
well at work, and he was bringing his problems home with him every night. Every
evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and
five-year-old daughter. Then he would go into the den and read the paper using
the newspaper to wall his family out of his life.
After several nights of this, one evening his daughter took
her little hand and pushed the newspaper down. She then jumped into her
father's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him strongly. The
father said abruptly, "Honey, you are hugging me to death!" "No,
Daddy," the little girl said, "I'm hugging you to life!"
This was the greatness of Jesus. He took people where they were and hugged them
to life. That is precisely what we see Jesus doing here in this dramatic
passage in Mark 5...
_______________________
Every morning all humans do the same thing. We get up,
take a shower, brush our teeth, and then decide what we are going to wear.
Generally in western culture it remains true that "Clothes make the
man," or in the name of a popular website, "Clothes make the
girl." Got a teenager? Then you know what I'm talking about. Then you know
oh-so-purse-painfully how important it is to have the "right look."
To wear the "right duds" so you can be the "right dudes."
Even if you are not a "fashionista," it is almost impossible not to
be influenced by what the current culture says is "cool" (or
"hot"). Who doesn't want to "look good" and so "feel
good" about themselves?
Every week the tabloids are filled with planted or paparazzi celebrity photos -
either looking their best or revealing their worst. But whatever shape they are
in, what those celebrities are sporting influences the fashion choices of
thousands. Designers count on it. In fact they literally "bank" on
it. If someone fabulous and famous wears something, it will sell. The
"knock 'em dead" designs on red carpet runways are immediately copied
into much cheaper "knock-offs" so that those with a bit of disposable
income can outfit themselves like royalty. Even countries without "royal
families" have their "royalty."
But while all of us - whether teenager or ladder climbing
corporate bureaucrat - think that our clothes lend use power and prestige, the
opposite was the case for Jesus in Galilee in the first century...
________________________
Touch in Church
One of my cyberfriends came across this in a church
newsletter called "Touch in Church:"
What is all this touching in church? It used to be a person could come to
church and sit in the
pew and not be bothered by all this friendliness and certainly not by touching.
I used to come to church and leave untouched. Now I have to be nervous about
what's expected of me. I have to worry about responding to the person sitting
next to me.
Oh, I wish it could be the way it used to be; I could just ask the person next
to me: How are you?
And the person could answer: Oh, just fine, And we'd both go home... strangers
who have known each other for twenty years.
But now the minister asks us to look at each other. I'm worried about that hurt
look I saw in that woman's eyes.
Now I'm concerned, because when the minister asks us to greet one another, the
man next to me held my hand so tightly I wondered if he had been touched in
years.
Now I'm upset because the lady next to me cried and then apologized and said it
was because I was so kind and that she needed a friend right now.
Now I have to get involved. Now I have to suffer when this community suffers.
Now I have to be more than a person coming to observe a service.
That man last week told me I'd never know how much I'd touched his life.
All I did was smile and tell him I understood what it was to be lonely.
Lord, I'm not big enough to touch and be touched! The stretching scares me.
What if I disappoint somebody? What if I'm too pushy? What if I cling too much?
What if somebody ignores me?
"Pass the peace." "The peace of Christ be with you."
"And also with you." And mean it. Lord, I can't resist meaning it!
I'm touched by it, I'm enveloped by it! I find I do care about that person next
to me! I find I AM involved! And I'm scared.
O Lord, be here beside me. You touch me, Lord, so that I can touch and be
touched! So that I can care and be cared for! So that I can share my life with
all those others that belong to you!
All this touching in church -- Lord, it's changing me!
What was it our audacious friend said so many centuries ago? "If I but
touch...I will be healed."
David E. Leininger, ChristianGlobe
Illustrations, www.Sermons.com
_____________________________________
12 Years
Twice in this story Jesus is touched by or himself touches
someone ritually and ceremonially unclean but not only is Jesus not
contaminated, the ones who had been contaminated to begin with are made holy
and whole. Jesus has crossed the boundaries that had once defined the
community, has rewritten the rules, and so has revealed a new day. Make no
mistake: this story is all about the creation of a New Israel. Mark seeded this
story with clues. How long had the woman been bleeding? Twelve years. How old was
the little girl Jesus raised? Twelve years. No Jewish person reading this story
could fail to see the repetition of the number twelve as a symbol of the twelve
tribes of Israel.
Long about the same time that Jairus welcomed his little girl into the world, a
women he didn't know began to hemorrhage. For twelve years this woman suffered.
For twelve years this little girl grew and became ever-more-dear to her father.
Both women were headed toward a rendezvous with Jesus on the very same day.
Although their paths to Jesus were as different as could be, both of these
daughters of Israel would point forward to the new community Jesus came to
build.
Scott Hoezee, The Touch
_______________________________________
The Wounded Healers
With all its imperfections, sins, blemishes, and warts, the
Church of Jesus Christ is the intended healer of the world's wounds. Christians
are called to be compassionate, wounded healers.
Perhaps, Henri Nouwen, the Roman Catholic theologian, has said this better than
anyone else. The author of many books, Nouwen speaks of Christians as
"wounded healers" who have compassion.
Compassion is not pity. Pity lets us stay at a distance. It is condescending.
Compassion is not sympathy. Sympathy is for superiors over inferiors.
Compassion is not charity. Charity is for the rich to continue in their status
over the poor.
Compassion is born of God. It means entering into the other
person's problems. It means taking on the burdens of the other. It means
standing in the other person's shoes. It is the opposite of professionalism. It
is the humanizing way to deal with people. "Just as bread without love can
bring war instead of peace, professionalism without compassion will turn
forgiveness into a gimmick." Ron Lavin, Alone/Together, CSS Publishing
Co., Inc.
_____________________________
Qualification for the Gift of the Gospel
Jesus came to raise the dead. The only qualification for the
gift of the Gospel is to be dead. You don't have to be smart. You don't have to
be good. You don't have to be wise. You don't have to be wonderful. You don't
have to be anything...you just have to be dead. That's it. Robert Farrar Capon
______________________
Priorities
What is at about human nature that makes us put off the most
important things until a crisis looms? So often we coast in our relationships
until they skid into a crisis. We think nothing of spending thousands on a car
and blindly drive it by the homeless shelter everyday. We think nothing of a
sixty-hour workweek but can't find time for dinner as a family.
We live lives of loneliness and sorrow because those things
that could build our friendships, family, and faith get our leftover time.
Then, one day it is too late, we have waited too long.
We are like the Rabbi who did not run to Jesus until his daughter was "at
the point of death [eschatos]."
Take a moment to examine your life today. What is at the
"eschatos" - the point of death - in your life right now? What part
of your spiritual or relational life is barely breathing? Find ways to make
those areas (family, friendships and faith) a higher priority than career and
income. Do something different this week. Before scheduling anything else, book
time with God, schedule an appointment with those in your own family. Then,
after prioritizing God and your family, then set up the rest of the week. Jerry
Goebel, Arise!
________________________________
Our Relationship with God
One of the reasons people tend to see faith as a religion
about God instead of a relationship with God is the sense that they are not
worthy of the attention of an Almighty God. "My problems are too small for
God to care about." or "With all the pain and suffering in this
world, why would God care about me?" are a couple of ways people give
expression to this sense of insignificance. The sense is the one
expressed by our theme title today, "How can one so great care for one so
small."
Have you ever felt that sense of insignificance? There have
been times when I've gazed into the incredible expanse of a starlit sky and
felt ever so small and insignificant. Even our planet is hardly a speck of dust
in the vast cosmos.
And yet, the heart of the lesson for today says that God is
attentive to the heartache and suffering of all persons, no matter how
insignificant they may seem to the world around them.
Religion can get in the way of a relationship with God.
Faith is not about rules, regulations and religion. It is about we human beings
reaching out to a God who reaches out to us through Jesus Christ who reaches
into the pain and anguish of our living. The good news for the people in our
scripture lesson is that the barriers all fall away. For the woman, for Jairus
and for the little girl - the greatness of God and the good news of Jesus
Christ eliminate all obstacles to health and life.
And aren't you glad that Christ cares more about our
wholeness and our living than he does about the niggling details of religious
convention? When I am in anguish and wish for the presence of Christ, I do not
need to worry that I am too great a sinner or that some folks would consider me
to be unacceptable -- I know that Jesus cared for a woman who was a social
reject and for a little girl that was not among the children of his followers.
John Jewell, Can One So Great Care for One So Small?
______________________________
The Grow in Clusters
Though I have never seen the Sequoia trees of California,
known as Redwoods, I am told they are spectacular. Towering as much as 300 feet
above the ground. Strangely, these towering trees have unusually shallow root
systems that spider out just under the surface of the ground to catch as much
of the surface moisture they can. And this is their vulnerability. Storms with
heavy winds would almost always bring these giants crashing to the ground but
this rarely happens because they grow in clusters and their intertwining roots
provide support for one another against the storms.
When we are together, either as a family or a church, we
provide this same support. Pain and suffering come to all of us. But, just like
those giant Sequoia trees, we can be supported in those difficult times by the
touch of one another's lives. The knowledge that we have someone; that we are
not alone; that there is someone who is willing to touch us, hold us, keeps us
from being destroyed.
Brett Blair, eSermons.com
_____________________
Jesus Brings Life
With whom do you most identify in today's gospel? There are
plenty of characters here who are being stung by death. There is a woman
whose whole life has been caught, dominated by a terrible, life-demanding
illness. There is a distraught father. A little girl whose young life is being
cut short. There are the baffled disciples, the crowd who doesn't know what to
think of all this. Where are you?
And yet, intruding into the story is another face, the
strong, live-giving face of Jesus. Mark says that Jesus was forever intruding
into fixed, settled, hopeless situations and bringing life. Hear his strong
voice speaking over the laments and dirges in today's gospel? Hear him as he
calls to the little girl, "Get up!"
I think he may be calling to you...
