Category: Uncategorized

***

Gospel: Mark 6: 7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
–no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,
“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.”
So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

When I think about Nagasaki, Japan, the first thing that comes to mind is the atomic bomb dropped on it during World War Two, incinerating 37,000 people in a matter of seconds.

***

But 350 years earlier, the people of Nagasaki faced another tragedy. The Japanese government was trying to systematically wipe out our faith, killing Christians by the thousands. 

The first known group of martyrs included Saint Paul Miki and 25 of his companions, all of whom were crucified on a hill outside of Nagasaki, much like Jesus. 

Among them were not only priests…but also the elderly, women, even children.

***

And like Jesus, Saint Paul Miki used the cross as his pulpit to preach his final sermon.

These were his parting words: “After Christ’s example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as fruitful rain.”

***

The Japanese government continued stomping out the Catholic faith until all traces of it were lost.

In fact, missionaries would not return to Japan for another 200 years…But when they did, they discovered that Paul Miki’s prayer had mysteriously come true. Thousands of Christians were living quietly in Nagasaki and beyond, reminding us all of a very important truth:

The Church never dies.

In spite of scandal, persecution, or any threat to its mission, the Gospel message will never stop converting and saving souls. 

But that truth is partly dependent upon us.

***

Like Paul and his companions, how might we share our faith with someone else – in word or deed – today?

***

***

Image credits: (1) Bethel Assembly Church (2) Rome of the West (3) spreadlovee.com

***

Gospel: Mark 6: 1-6

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place,
accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

I think we often get caught up in the routine, ordinariness of daily life, so much so that we take the truest form of beauty for granted. We live in a way whereby God becomes invisible. And yet, it’s his desire to be seen. 

How often do we ask someone, “How are you?” To which they respond, “It’s good to be seen.” Doesn’t God also want to be seen, acknowledged? 

***

In today’s Gospel, Jesus returns to his hometown. Word of what he’s doing – and who he might actually be – is spreading. But those who know him best fail to see.

Stuck in their preconceived ideas and ordinary routines, they box Jesus in and reduce him to the stature of an ordinary man. They’re used to living with him, conversing with him, watching him work.

The weight of ordinary time has pulled the wool over their eyes so much so that they take their time with God for granted.

***

How often do we do the same? We move so quickly that we begin to take life – and the presence God around us – for granted. 

For example, in the “breaking of the bread,” it’s him. In the voice of concern from a friend, it’s him. In the gift of human touch, it’s him.. In a random word of encouragement, it’s him. In the splendor of the sun, the gift of night, the joy of silence, it’s him.

God wants to be seen.

Sometimes it’s a matter of slowing down and seeing. Before the day ends, look around. God is waiting to be seen.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Redbubble (2) Desiring God (3) United in the Word

***

Gospel: Mark 5: 21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
“My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live.”
He went off with him
and a large crowd followed him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”
But his disciples said to him,
“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, Who touched me?”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said,
“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
“Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep.”
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child’s father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,”
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

This poor woman in today’s Gospel is at her wit’s end. She has not only been hemorrhaging for the last twelve years; she’s also penniless, having spent all that she has on doctors, who’ve been unable to find her a cure.

So, she approaches Jesus as a last resort.

However, there’s one major obstacle preventing her healing. Because she’s bleeding, she’s considered ritually impure and, therefore, cannot touch another human being, nor can she enter the Temple to pray. 

Yet her desperation inspires her to reach out and touch the tassel of the Lord’s cloak. Suddenly, she’s healed.

***

The same dynamics are found in the second story we’re given, the healing of Jairus’ daughter.

Because she’s dead, anyone who touches her is considered ritually impure. But just as the hemorrhaging woman broke the Law by touching Jesus, so the Lord breaks the Law by grabbing this dead girl by the hand, then he raises her up. 

Nowhere else in the Gospels are two stories of healing sandwiched together, both of which require breaking the Law in order to be healed.

***

So, what might Mark be saying to us?

***

Sometimes mercy demands that we expand our hearts, our minds, even our laws, in order to allow for people to come into contact with Christ.

Because a little bit of faith, even from an impure or an imperfect person, can go a long way.

***

***

Image credits: (1) SlideShare (2) Missio Dei (3) brady, mark a.