Thirteenth Sunday in OT 'B'

Today’s readings speak of the gift of life, both physical and spiritual, that God has given us. They urge and challenge us to be grateful for our health in body and soul and to use God’s gifts of life and health responsibly.

The First Reading, taken from the Book of Wisdom, tells us that God gave us life and health and that it was the jealousy of the Satan that produced illness and death. The reading also suggests that the goal of our lives on earth is to know, to love and to serve God here with perfect health in body and soul, and to share God’s immortal life forever.

In the Second Reading, Saint Paul asks the Corinthian Christian community to show to their Jewish brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, who were living in poverty and sickness, the kindness and compassion which Jesus expressed in his healing ministry. Paul asked the Corinthians to be generous in their contributions to a fund being collected for their suffering brothers and sisters. The generosity of Jesus is the central theme here also, because Paul describes Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection as “the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Today’s Gospel describes two of our Lord's miracles, the healing of a woman who suffered from a chronic bleeding disease and the returning of the dead daughter of Jairus to life. These healings teach us that Jesus willed life, and willed full life for all God’s children. The two healings also reveal Jesus as a generous, kind and compassionate God Who wills that men should live their wholesome lives fully. They also give us further proof of the Divine power and the Infinite mercy of our Savior. These miracles were worked by Jesus as reward for the trusting Faith of a synagogue ruler and of a woman with a hemorrhage, although the Faith of the ruler might have been defective, and the woman’s Faith might have been a bit superstitious. But Jesus amply rewarded their defective Faith by granting them health and life.

Jesus accepts us as we are. Let us bring before Him our bodily illnesses and spiritual wounds and ask for His healing touch. As Christians, we believe that Jesus continues to heal us through His instruments in the medical profession like doctors, nurses and medical technicians. We need to pray to Christ The Divine Healer, that the doctor will make the correct diagnosis, prescribe the correct treatment and give us the right medicine. Let us not forget the truth, that Christ still works wonders of healing. Let us also thank God for the great gift of health and use it for helping those who are sick.

As members of the Church, we are not excused from our vocation to be healers. We do our share of Christ’s healing mission by visiting the sick, by praying for their healing, and by boosting their morale with our loving presence, words of encouragement and inspiration. In this way we may enable them to experience the compassion of Jesus the Healer.