THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME B

[cappie]

Our gospel reading this Sunday is a healing within a healing. We begin by hearing the story of Jairus’ young daughter who is very ill, but that story is interrupted by the older woman afflicted by a flow of blood, who touches Jesus’ garments and is healed. Once she is healed, we return to Jairus’ daughter, who is brought back to life by Jesus.

As Jesus makes his way to Jairus’ home, he is interrupted by an encounter with a woman who would have seemed destined to die unknown, unremembered, unremarked. But this woman showed her great faith in trusting that all she needed to do was reach out and touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. Nothing more was required, but nothing less would do.

Clearly, she had heard of Jesus’ reputation as a healer. As we learn for twelve years, “ After long and painful treatment under various doctors, she spent all she had without being any the better for it, in fact, she was getting worse”  The perception in the culture of the day was that if someone was suffering, this was God’s punishment for sin, also she is presented as without family. Through her faith she just needed to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, this one last hope of healing.  His reputation was clear.    She would have to push against a lot of pressure from her society just to reach Jesus.

As she gathered with a large crowd of others, all bent on hearing Jesus, many wanting healing as well. An important religious leader named Jairus came to implore Jesus to heal his daughter.

As Jesus started toward Jairus’ house, the woman knelt down, reaching out for the edge of his robe, and grabbed hold as if   life and healing from the one God flowed through it.  The bleeding stopped. Her body was finally healed after twelve years of suffering.

Then  Jesus stopped wanting to know who touched him, with such a great crowd, a lot of people had been bumping into Jesus. But Jesus kept looking because he too felt the miracle. The woman everyone came to ignore became the centre of attention.

Mark’s Gospel tells us she fell down before Jesus,  she throws herself at his feet and recounts her whole story.  After so many people had cast her down, Jesus lifts her up, and says the words which make her healing complete. “ My daughter, your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint”.

In Jesus naming as daughter the woman, we see the very heart of God.  God never forgot her, always loved her, and wanted to welcome her home. “Your faith has restored you.” Jesus knew what great faith she had come to have that even the very hem of his robe could heal;  this woman’s faith knew no bounds.

 Sickness had defined her. Then Jesus set her free to be a daughter of God. She did not continue to follow Jesus that day, at least not physically. She could cut away from the crowd, confident that Jairus’ daughter would be healed, as she began the journey to Jerusalem.  

So often, people are judged by society and found wanting. They are named in various ways as outcasts and treated as less than human. And until all of God’s children, the whole human family, are welcome at the table, we will be falling short of the kingdom of God. For those of us with a seat at the table, we can pray for the grace to see the world as God sees it and the courage to act.

But if you are one whom others have seen as unworthy and judged as lacking, know that God loves you as you are and wants better for you as well. You do not have to even touch the hem of his garment. You only have to reach out your heart in prayer and offer God your pain and suffering. God wants to take that hurt and give you shalom—the health, healing, and wholeness—he gave to a woman not named in scripture, but whose faith is unforgettable.

This is something we can all experience every time we gather for the Eucharist. Jesus is the host. At this table, all of us are known and loved. In the meal of bread and wine, we are fed. And in this meal, we find ourselves beloved children of God. Then we are empowered to share that same love with others.