13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Deacon Tim’s Column - June 28, 2009

In today’s Gospel selection by Mark, Jesus had just returned from the other side of the Sea of Galilee where he received a less than cordial reception. Last week the Gospel was about faith or the lack there of. The disciples were afraid because of the storm and Jesus calmed things—both the disciples and the storm. Now he’s back on the other side (where her originally started from). Mark presents us with two examples of extraordinary faith. First, a synagogue official (a group who probably weren’t the most Jesus-friendly) cam to him and asked for a healing for his daughter. The second was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She believed that if she could just touch his cloak she would be healed. Meanwhile, the synagogue official’s daughter had died. Jesus told him to have faith and not to be afraid. The end result was that he raised the little girl from the dead. These were accomplished through the miraculous action of Jesus based on the faith of both the woman plagued by hemorrhages and the synagogue official.
So often we mouth certain things like “faith can move mountains.” Do we really in our hearts believe that? Faith can move mountains (as well as a lot of other things) but most of all it is a testament of our believe and trust in God. One word I’ve stricken from my vocabulary is “coincidence.” I truly believe that there is no such thing. God intervenes in our lives all the time and often we attribute it to chance or “coincidence.” God doesn’t move us like puppets, after all, we have an intellect and free will, but what he does do is to make us more aware of our surroundings as well as the people around us, those known to us as well as strangers.
Time and time again God interacts with us. Most times (baring mystical experiences) God manifests himself to us through others. God sends people to us and makes us open to their interactions with us. These interactions can come at very critical times in our lives. We might feel down or depressed in one way or the other and out of the blue, someone enters our life. They can give us insights which we should have had but for whatever reason didn’t.
This interaction by a seeming stranger can have a huge impact on our lives. Sometimes these people have only this one function. They come into our lives for a moment and then they disappear after they have fulfilled their mission. Others come into our lives and have a lasting, continuing impact on us, initially fulfilling the needs we started with and then by their presence and God and the Spirit working, impact our lives irrevocably. Both of these instances are examples of God’s love and concern for us and his benign intervention in our lives. He never wants to see us adrift. It’s up to us to accept this intervention and recognize it for what it is, God’s grace.
We can be healed, just like the woman with the hemorrhages and the daughter of the synagogue official. If we place our complete trust and faith in God everything is possible. In some situations it’s amazing. Often this intervention can be two-fold. The person sent into our lives has a lasting impact on us but we also have the possibility (being open to the workings of the Spirit) of having a lasting impact on their lives.
Grace and peace to you and your families.
Deacon Tim 734-502-1818