Today’s Reflection: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 Liturgical Year B, Cycle II Saint John Bosco, priest – Memorial
By Charles Muchiri
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| Faith personified |
The
story of Absalom’s death: The story of a synagogue official, named Jairus and
his 12 years old daughter: And of course, the story of the woman who is healed
from a 12 years long hemorrhage!
The Love of a Father
Let’s start with the first story: (1st Reading: 2 Sm 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30; 19:3)
One thing: By the mere fact that Absalom had revolted against the rule of his father David, he deserved to die by the very sword that he had planned to use on his father’s kingdom.
But
guess what? When David receives the news that his son has died, he results into
mourning: This is quite interesting in that at such a tense moment, when his
kingdom is threatened, the death of Absalom is supposed to be good news.
The
love of a Father towards a Son comes out loud and clear on this very ultimate
day of the battle of Ephraim Wood.
Doesn’t
it remind us of the love by which our God loves us? That even if we are on the
wrong; He’s always mourning on the account of our waywardness? In a big way, it
does. And the beauty about our situation is that as soon as we turn to Him, He is always willing and ready to welcome us back into His Graces!
Faith personified by bleeding woman
On
the other hand, the story of this woman in the Gospel (Mark 5: 25 – 34) we
encounter this woman who is faith personified.
She
interrupts Jesus’ journey to the Synagogue official’s house by her mere determination.
She tells herself: "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured."
(Mark 5: 28) This is way deep.
She has the option of shouting at
Jesus at the top of her voice, like many others are quoted to have done in the
Gospels.
But instead, she opts to simply
touch the cloak of Jesus, for healing.
Do we have a fraction of this
unnamed woman’s faith? That by a mere slight encounter with Christ, we will acquire instant reprieve from the issues that hold us down for eons?
Why trouble Christ?
Then, to the last story – the story
of the Synagogue official: This man truly believes in Jesus’ powers, doesn’t
he? And instead of being the cynic (the typical attitude of these synagogue
officials and the scribes) he is reaching out to Jesus, giving Him an absolute
homage of Faith.
The most captivating moment is when
persons from the
synagogue official's house arrive to announce the death of Jairus Daughter,
"Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" (Mark
5: 35)
This
is the epitome of a bad situation gone worst. And Jairus’ officials come out
behaving like the typical human beings.
“Why
trouble the teacher any longer…she is dead” And at that moment, any spirit, however
determined is bound to crumble.
How
often do we crumble to such pull downs? How often do we go back home to mourn
about our irreparable sad situations – without realizing just how close we were
to Christ’s redeeming power?
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