Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

“Little Girl, Get Up.”
 
Today’s gospel from Mark (5:21-43) contains two different encounters with Jesus, one within the other. The passage begins with the raising of Jairus’ daughter from her deathbed; the other is the cure of a hemorrhaging woman—
 
“Daughter, it is your faith that has cured you. Go in peace and be free of this illness.”
 
Jesus encounters the woman on his way to Jairus’ house.
 
Both are miracle stories and both are dramatic, one more than the other. Bringing a child back to life is sure to get people’s attention.
 
And neither event is a part of our normal experience.
 
Yet what unites the two stories and is within our daily experience and
human grasp is the faith in Jesus that Jairus and the nameless woman have. In both cases, they need extraordinary faith in Jesus. One is dealing with a child on the verge of death and the other with a seemingly incurable disease of 12 years.
 
And the faith of each was vindicated.
 
There are times when such faith is asked of each of us. And not always do we see the tangible vindication of our faith ‘in the moment’. Loved ones die; illnesses are not always cured.
 
And yet I think this is what today’s gospel speaks to us about.
 
Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed that the ‘Cup’ He was facing would be removed. It wasn’t. He trusted. His faith, to put it mildly, was vindicated, “on the third day”. The Father had ‘another’ plan in mind for His Son.
 
And so will our faith also be vindicated. But perhaps not when nor how we want it to be. TRUST.
 
So much of our faith journey asks us to trust. We wish very much that it was otherwise. We much prefer to know. And to always receive what we ask for when we ask for it.
 
At times this is very challenging. But, as always, Jesus has gone before us to show us the Way.