A Few Words On "The Word"

July 2, 2006
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark 5: 21-43

Sick Woman, Dead Girl

Now here's a well-done story. This portion of Mark's gospel is actually a story folded within a story. And notice how it begins: reaching back to last week's story of Jesus in the boat, wanting to "cross over to the other side," encountering then quieting the storm. This first line, "When Jesus had crossed in the boat to the other side," is more than a reminder of where we left off. It's a key to unlock the deep meanings of the story-folded-within-a-story we're about to hear.

Warning: Don't fall into the trap of thinking that this gospel means if you have enough faith, you'll get better if you're sick, or you'll never die. Sickness and death are mysteries we'll probably never fully understand. Nope, it's more complicated than this. Because if we think this is what the gospel is about, then we gotta think that people who don't get better or people who do die somehow just didn't believe enough-it's their own fault. No way. Faith is a gift from God, and what kind of sicko god would play with people like this?

This gospel is about the power of faith, but in a different way. Faith is about searching for God in every experience we have. Faith is that strong desire to reach for God and, knowing God's always bigger than anything we can imagine or understand, trying hard just to "touch the hem," just to get close enough to grab a fringe, find even a little bit. Faith is about knowing that God is never too busy to pay attention to you, never far from you. Especially when things go wrong. Especially when someone's sick. Especially with someone who has just died.

Who knows what was going through Jesus' mind as he decided he better get to the little girl who was on death's door? He was on an important mission, no? Yet he finds God in the interruption, in the woman who grabs his coat. Jesus learns a lot about faith from this woman whose name we didn't even bother to write down. Think about that. God learning something from us.

Faith won't take away the stormy seas, the sickness, the dying. Faith will quiet the waves, though, and allow us to cross over, cross through these experiences of loss to a new life where nothing, nada, is stronger than love.

"Give her something to eat," Jesus tells the kid's parents. The same guy who's later gonna say, "Take and eat, this is my body. Take and drink, this is the cup of my blood." We feed each other in more ways than with food. We feed each other with faith, with companionship, with presence-being there and being with others, especially those who feel so terribly alone.

FYI and BTW

Jesus' line, "Give her something to eat" gave rise over the centuries to the custom of bringing at least the bread of the eucharist to those who are sick and cannot join in the celebration. When the eucharist is brought and shared with someone who is dying, it is called viaticum, which is Latin meaning (food to) "go with you on your way." If you're ever seriously ill, or someone you know is, call your parish and ask for a minister of care to bring communion.

Reflection Question

Jesus learned something deep about faith from the woman "with the issue of blood." What's one deep thing you learned from someone you might have thought had nothing to offer?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!