13th Sunday in Ordinary Time —a reflection by Father Leo

 Jesus’ gift of healing by the power of the Holy Spirit is manifested in two different cases in today’s gospel passage from Mark. First Jairus’ daughter is raised from the dead, and the woman suffering with a hemorrhage for twelve years was healed. In both instances faith was the foundation of Jesus’ ability to make a difference. Jairus, feeling desperate, reaches out to Jesus hoping he can save his daughter and the woman suffering for so many years hoped Jesus could heal her. Because of their faith, Jesus answered their prayers. These stories are recorded to inspire our faith in Jesus, that he can make a difference in our lives and in the lives of all humanity.

 In our second reading we are directed toward another miracle. This time it requires our participation. Those with much are to share from their abundance with those who have little. In doing so, when they find themselves in want, others will help them from their abundance as well. This is much like the feeding of the five thousand, all shared what they had and there was more than enough left over for the known world. The miracle here is one of trust, that those with and without could count on others in their time of need.

 I believe our world could live in that kind of harmony, but I also know it would take the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit to bring humanity to live in such harmony. The level of trust needed would need to be inspired by God, and the fear that leads to greed would need to be overcome. I also think that we can get there by taking small steps toward that goal. When each one of us makes a choice to live in a way that brings about harmony, our small steps can ripple out and change the world.

 With our scriptures today we have an opportunity to contemplate the power of faith, pray for faith and ask the Holy Spirit to help us to live in a way that equity between all peoples will become a reality. May God bless our time in prayer, contemplation and action.