30 January 2018
Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus continues his wondrous work this time with not one, but two miracles: the cure of a woman with hemorrhages and the raising of Jairus’ daughter. Both events show us that though Jesus has a strong following, his love and his ways are often misunderstood to the point of ridicule. When the woman with hemorrhages touches his cloak and he feels “that the power had gone out of him,” Jesus wants to know who it was. Seeing that the crowd was pressing upon him, the disciples find this question impossible to answer, foolish even. Still, Jesus looks around until he encounters her. Similarly, Jesus was ridiculed when he claimed that Jairus’ daughter was not dead, but asleep. And all were astounded when they saw the little girl rise.
In both events, Jesus makes clear the value of having faith. To the woman with hemorrhages he says, “Daughter, your faith has saved you,” and before working his miracle, he says to Jairus “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” Our faith is something that can be subject to ridicule in the eyes of many. When we believe, even to the point of looking foolish, we will find the eyes of Christ, our healer, our teacher, our Lord among the crowd, longing for that encounter with us.