Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel story of Jesus raising the official’s daughter (Matthew 9:18-26) is very near to my heart. The official asks Jesus to bring his daughter back to life. Jesus gets to the house after a quick healing along the way and finds everyone in mourning. He claims that the girl is just sleeping, and the crowd ridicules him for not accepting what appears obvious: she is dead. Then Jesus takes her by the hand, and she rises.
My mom died from breast cancer several years ago, and I had the grace to be by her bedside when she passed away. My brother and I were there, each holding her hand. We only clasped her hands for a few moments, and her breathing became shallower and shallower until suddenly, she took her last breath. It was devastating yet immensely consoling to lose my mom and witness it firsthand. Yet, I believe that our presence there, holding her hand, gave her the peace to move on into eternal life. Jesus grasped the hand of the young girl and raised her up, and I find, too, that Jesus was holding my mom’s hand and bringing her into life with Him.
Being like Christ might mean “holding the hand” of those who are suffering. We can be like Christ by simply accompanying those who are dying, experiencing some illness, hurting from some injustice, or struggling in school. We Catholic Christians are called to be Christ’s hands in the world. Who am I called to bring Christ’s hands to in my own life?