\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
What do you suppose the hemorrhaging woman and the Synagogue official Jairus had in common?\u00c2\u00a0 Was it sincerity, dire need, and desperation- to be sure.\u00c2\u00a0 But others surely shared the desire for a miracle born out of these emotions,\u00c2\u00a0 And yet, with all these people that were following Jesus, these are the two that experienced the miracle, not the others.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now these two people were as different as night and day. \u00c2\u00a0One, the woman, was an outcast, considered unclean.\u00c2\u00a0 She was shunned by the people in the crowd, literally an “untouchable”.\u00c2\u00a0 The other, Jairus, was a respected leader of the Jewish society.\u00c2\u00a0 He was very popular with the people in the crowd.\u00c2\u00a0 So, why combine these two stories together?\u00c2\u00a0 Is there a lesson to be learned from what else is common in them?\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps it was to teach us about the combined virtues of Faith and Humility.\u00c2\u00a0 Jesus proclaimed that their Faith had saved both of them.\u00c2\u00a0 The woman was so faithful that she believed it was only necessary to just touch Jesus cloak.\u00c2\u00a0 And Jairus humiliated himself in front of those he led, the people, by prostrating himself to Jesus, because he believed Jesus was the only one who could help him.\u00c2\u00a0 His faith was so strong that nothing else mattered.\u00c2\u00a0 Indeed, what is also clear from the Gospel text is the degree of humility that these two very different people had.\u00c2\u00a0 You see, both of them approached Jesus with respect and with humility.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what they had in common.\u00c2\u00a0 Neither was bold and forceful.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather, they opened themselves up completely to Jesus no matter what the consequences.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0I think there’s a reason for the need to be humble, and it has to do with intimacy.\u00c2\u00a0 When we are humble with those with whom we interact, that fosters a spirit of intimacy in the relationship.\u00c2\u00a0 And it is from that intimacy that the relationship blossoms.\u00c2\u00a0 From that intimacy, energy flows both ways and makes things happen.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Certainly that is true between a husband and wife.\u00c2\u00a0 They are willing to share their real selves with each other, both a physical and a spiritual nakedness.\u00c2\u00a0 It takes humility in both of those areas for a marriage to be long lasting, doesn’t it.\u00c2\u00a0 After the honeymoon period in a marriage, there’s a long period of reality that settles in where the physical and spiritual flaws of the two people in the marriage become obvious to each other.\u00c2\u00a0 And yet, the two people learn to love and accept each other despite these flaws, and maybe even, because of them, if the marriage is to last.\u00c2\u00a0 That takes true humility and love between the two people.\u00c2\u00a0 And it results in incredible intimacy- the kind of intimacy that allows unselfish giving and lasting trust between the two people.\u00c2\u00a0 And from that intimacy flows many blessings- children, motivation, creativity, determination, and a host of other benefits.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
In this Gospel, we see the intimacy in the touching- a forbidden touch between the woman and Jesus; and Jairus prostrating himself at the feet of Jesus, and Jesus touching the girl to bring her back to life.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, the Lord wants that intimacy between you and himself.\u00c2\u00a0 That intimacy is established first of all, by your prayer.\u00c2\u00a0 But in the midst of that prayer, complete honesty and humility are essential if you are to become intimate with the Lord- the kind of intimacy that you need so that God’s grace will enable you- whether it is to weather a storm in your life; accept His will in whatever illness or infirmity you have; renew your efforts to be creative and productive; or whatever else it is that you need for yourself or another.\u00c2\u00a0 Faith in the Lord, and the kind of humility that allows you to establish an intimate relationship with Him, that’s what helps bring joy and comfort to you, as the ultimate answer to your prayer.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 1: 13-15, 2: 23-24; 2 Cor 8: 7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5: 21-43 Dc. Larry Brockman What do you suppose the hemorrhaging woman and the Synagogue official Jairus had in common?\u00c2\u00a0 Was it sincerity, dire need, and desperation- to be sure.\u00c2\u00a0 But others surely shared the desire for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}