January 31, Tuesday, 4th Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest
First Reading: Hebrew 12:1-4; Gospel: Mark 5: 21-43
Today the world judges us by our looks, our achievements, and the state of our living.
Today’s reading reminds us that, in our race of faith, we must persevere in running the race that lies before us, while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. It is necessary to move away from sin and get rid of everything that prevents us from living a holy life.
In this journey we are not alone, because around us is the believing community. May we not get discouraged whenever we encounter failures or disappointments. Furthermore, we have Jesus on our side.
In today's Gospel, Jesus performs two miracles. The healing of a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years and the raising of the daughter of Jairus, chief of a synagogue.
Now I am focusing my reflection on the first miracle. “Your faith has healed you; go in peace and be healed of your disease.”
The faith of a person, plus the faith of the people around her, is important for healing to happen. Despite the great difficulties she faced in order to get to Jesus, the woman with hemorrhages manages to approach Him with the full confidence of finding healing that she had searched for so long without success. It happened that by touching Jesus' mantle, she was healed.
Jesus, realizing that a force had gone out of Him, asks, who touched me? The woman trembles in fear because Jesus had raised a religiously and socially serious question. In those days the hemorrhage was considered as state of impurity that led to social exclusion. Precisely for this reason, Jesus publicly reveals the healing of the woman to reintegrate her into public life and help her regain confidence in herself. Her great faith is reason for helping her.
Jesus is always sensitive to the needs of others and sensitive to every situation of His children. He is always there willing to help those in need on His own initiative.
In the two stories of healing that we just heard it is important to remember how our personal and communal faith helps the healing of the woman.
Jesus speaks of mercy, and we see that he has always shown mercy to those who were in need of help. As a result, we can put our fears to rest, our spirits being healed and our faith encouraged by having Jesus as our merciful healer.
For reflection:
Considering the woman: how great is our trust in Jesus?
Considering the community: how do we treat others who are low profile in society?
Considering God's action: Do we listen to the voices and cries of people around us?
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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