Jesus came for us to have life, and life in abundance

Reading: When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” Matthew 9:23-24a.

Good morning, happy Monday, and many blessings my dear family.

Today’s Gospel (Matthew 9:18-26) presents us with various circles of ‘distance from’ versus ‘depth of’ religious belief. On the outermost circle are the bystanders who could only scoff at even the possibility of a miracle.

The next circle might be imagined as some strangers appearing on the scene and believing that they had first to present themselves before Jesus, and to make their request in person.

But the suffering woman represents a circle even closer than this: She is content to by-pass face-to-face meeting completely. She takes for granted a totally positive response from Jesus – putting all her faith in actual contact with the cloak of the ’holy man’ which she thought would bring about her healing.

Finally, that local official takes one more step closer to full depth of belief. He is content to plead for healing for a person (his daughter) who doesn’t even happen to be present – a request for ‘long distance’ healing. And so, he is held up to us as a unique model of believing.

Jesus relates wonderfully with people who have faith. Faith establishes a strong relationship between Jesus and ourselves, and so his power flows to us.

In your prayer you might focus on how you touch Jesus and how he touches or moves you. This is effected by your faith, as a knowledge born of love, or of Jesus’ love for you and yours for Him. You might focus on His desire to be in a one-to-one relationship with you so that you get a sense of your personal significance or worth for Him. Jesus has a deep desire to touch you in this way and that you feel touched by Him.

Like the woman in today's text, I may be suffering from some malady, physical or spiritual, that has become a permanent feature of my life, keeping me back from being my true self. Like her I might feel the urge to seek healing, to touch Jesus discreetly but believing in his power to heal me. I listen to Jesus' reply, affirming my move.

Jesus came for us to have life, and life in abundance. He raises this girl back to life, and his own story ends in his own triumph over death and sin. I pray that I too can believe firmly in life and in all that enhances it, on all levels.

Blessings,

Fr. Luis+