OUR GOD OF THE LIVING

July 5, Monday

FOURTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

      Today’s first reading about the ladder of Jacob tells us about the continuous presence of God to those he loves. God himself is there, stooping down to people and messengers of God coming down and going up. This means that his continuous solicitude surrounds us. God is here, with us; we live in his love as long as we want to.

      God has made us for life. In Jesus he shows us that he wants us to be healed, that is, wholly and fully alive and raised from the dead, for by his resurrection Jesus defeats death in its roots. In this eucharist we ask Jesus to raise us up, from the death of sin and ultimately from physical death.

 

First Reading: Genesis 28:10-22a

Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.

Then God was right before him, saying, “I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I’m giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they’ll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you wherever you go, and I’ll bring you back to this very ground. I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”

Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.”

Jacob was up first thing in the morning. He took the stone he had used for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it. He christened the place Bethel (God’s House). The name of the town had been Luz until then.

Jacob vowed a vow: “If God stands by me and protects me on this journey on which I’m setting out, keeps me in food and clothing, and brings me back in one piece to my father’s house, this God will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives.

 

Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26

As he finished saying this, a local official appeared, bowed politely, and said, “My daughter has just now died. If you come and touch her, she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, his disciples following along.

Just then a woman who had haemorrhaged for twelve years slipped in from behind and lightly touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can just put a finger on his robe, I’ll get well.” Jesus turned—caught her at it. Then he reassured her: “Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re well.” The woman was well from then on.

By now they had arrived at the house of the town official, and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and the neighbours bringing in casseroles. Jesus was abrupt: “Clear out! This girl isn’t dead. She’s sleeping.” They told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. But when Jesus had gotten rid of the crowd, he went in, took the girl’s hand, and pulled her to her feet—alive. The news was soon out, and travelled throughout the region.

 

Prayer

God of all that breathes and lives,
your Son Jesus touched people
and they were healed and they lived.
Let him take us by the hand
and raise us up from sin and discouragement.
Let him touch us with his body and blood
and make us fresh and new again
to live his life and to go his way to you.
Let him touch us with the warmth of his love
that our love may revive others,
especially the poor and those who suffer.
All this we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Your faith has saved you

Today’s Gospel account shows Jesus healing two women. Total and absolute trust is shared by a city official and the woman with a haemorrhage. These are scenes of liberation. Both of them drew close to Jesus in order to obtain from him what no one else could give them: liberation from sickness and from death. One of them is the daughter of one of the city officials; the other, a woman afflicted by a sickness that has made her an outcast, marginalized, someone impure. But Jesus makes no distinctions between the rich and the poor, between the one with authority and one who is an outcast: liberation is generously given to each of them.

Apparently there is nothing in common between them, except the need to be rescued to life. In both encounters, Jesus avoids the limelight. The story of these two women can be our own story.
Jesus allows himself to be reached by the needy: He does not ask them verifying questions. He does not look at their motives. He does not put any type of demands for his service – economic or moral – for his immediate intervention. The service is gentle and free. He does not look at appearances, He is moved by pain and reacts to illness and death.

Two daring gestures bring the young woman’s father and the bleeding woman closer to Jesus. They both dared to get the attention of Jesus. A fearful person or a self-conscious person would never dare to break with their social image, to put themselves within the reach of the goodness of the Master. The girl’s father – a city official humiliates himself by kneeling before Jesus. The sick woman dares to venture into the midst of the crowd, fully knowing she could be stoned. In both cases, the two expose a lot in the search for salvation.

Jesus just says the strange phrase “your faith has saved you” to the sick woman and takes the sleeping girl by the hand. He avoids highlighting the authorship of the miracle, to highlight the value of faith – a faith that is capable of the impossible.

 

Video available on Youtube: Your faith has saved you