1 February 2022
Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Different as they were socially, is not difficult to see that both Jairus, the synagogue official, and the shy, sick woman, mentioned in today’s Gospel, were very much alike. Both placed their deepest hopes in the mercy and power of Jesus. Both did so according to who they were: Jairus in audible words; the woman in quiet action.
The crowds engulfing Jesus prevented the woman from a face-to-face encounter with him, while Jairus closed his ears to the cry that his daughter was dead. Both persevered in their quest. The woman remained until he said to her, “Go in peace.” And to Jairus he said: “Fear is useless. What is needed is trust.”
The Lord worked this double miracle without fanfare. Was it because he wanted complete trust on the part of both? Reflecting on that message, should encourage me to beg that I be given the same confidence, the same perseverance, the same peace.
It is a request I should make daily through the intercession of my favorite saints that can be identified as having the same confidence and perseverance as Jairus and the woman, and especially, it is the prayer I should make to the Lord after receiving him in the Eucharist, when faith and hope are intensified and fear minimized.