TOUCH HIM

We are so blessed that we have a leader and model whom we can look up to at all times and never be disappointed. For Jesus himself endured more than any of us can ever imagine and withstand, we might ask ourselves, “Is there something more He could have done for us which He has not done?” The 1st reading for today is just a follow through from yesterday’s reading which speaks of various Old Testament saints and people who have lived the faith in the face of the impossible. These are the likes of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and so many others who followed them after having gone through insurmountable tasks came out filled with faith. They are the great cloud of witnesses that we all look up to for hope and inspiration. The idea of a group of people the so called cloud of witnesses shows unity as a group. Taking to consideration also the word martyrs meaning witnesses. They are not passive witnesses like people who see an incident or accident but can’t do anything about it. This cloud of witnesses is very active in their faith. It took a lot of action for Abraham as written in Heb. 11:8-11, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age — and Sarah herself was sterile — for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. The same is true for Moses who took God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. They are very active cloud of witnesses of faith and believe strongly. They give us an education and motivate us. Let us look at this as sports imagery. In Roman and Greek games running is a most important sport. When we run the race we can not possibly carry anything or have something in tow. It is like we burden ourselves just as sin will slow us down. No sin is going to help us run the race. We have to be free of all sin. We’ll end up losing in the race if we are encumbered by sin. The world fools us into believing that there are some sins that are just alright to commit. We need to clear this up and know that no sin is ok. It will not help us get to heaven. This is what’s at stake here. We have to persevere in running and remain focused on Jesus. Jesus is the leader of the pack of runners. He runs the race ahead of us for us to know where we’re going.  In order to keep pace, we follow Jesus who sets the norm for all of us. There should be no looking back as we run the race. If we look behind us we run the risk of losing because we are fixing our eyes on the loser. We don’t go ahead by seeing what’s behind us because we lose time by looking back instead of looking ahead. When we run this race what we break through is not a ribbon but death. Christ knew that there’s a joy that will lie ahead in His willingness to bear the cross, its pain and shame. During His time people who are sentenced to die on the cross cover their faces. It is a very shameful way to die and is the kind of death that is given to slaves. Jesus looks down upon the cross. This means He looks down upon the shame and doesn’t allow the shame of dying on the cross to stop him. He is now seated at the right of the throne of God. As in Heb 1:13 "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool", and Psalm 110:2 The LORD says to you, my lord: "Take your throne at my right hand, while I make your enemies your footstool." Jesus does not allow the shame of the cross to stop him neither should we allow ourselves to stop to run the race. We can slip into giving in to commission of sin and make an excuse by saying others are doing it. We should not give ourselves permission to sin. In a sense we are taking all the burden and encumbrances of sin by doing so. Our life should be one of purification by removing the burden in our souls and keeping our eyes on Jesus. We may ask how Jesus endured such opposition from sinners. He was crucified on the cross not being cheered on but jeered on, mocked and made fun of him. He was laughed at for He saved others but He can not save Himself. He did that in order that we will not turn away or lose heart nor allow ourselves to be discouraged by those who are making fun of us. Whenever we watch a game or competition we see people favor one team over the other. They boo one and cheer the other. We should realize that that those who are going to boo us are those on the side of satan and evil. They will try to dissuade us from finishing the race so we lose heart and grow weary before the race is over especially if we have made a good start. This letter to the Hebrews is in the early 60AD addressed to Jewish Christians who had their properties confiscated. It was only in the 70AD during the time of Nero that there was much bloodshed of martyrs in testimony of the faith. They are being told that there is no bloodshed yet and is also being said to us so we are still in a much better position to defend our faith at this present time. May we persevere and run the race to the finish. Amen. Hallelujah!

Hebrews 12:1-4

1 Brothers and sisters: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us 2 while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. 3 Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

An artist works his way through a piece of art like a clay and marble by molding and shaping it into a masterpiece. It is a painful and difficult process of change and transformation. Just like clay and marble being molded and chipped away.  When we go through life and experience its different struggles we become one with Jesus in His suffering. If we understand the reason for human existence, the older people get the greater should be the respect they get. Each and every step is imbued with the power of the Master. We need to walk the way that Jesus walked. The easiest way is God's way. The pain of the cross is essential. There is no other way since there is a pedagogical structure in suffering or the cross wherein only greatness comes forth. Whenever we reach a point where we feel like we can no longer hold on and about to give up then we must not forget that our God is always with us ready to help us. If He was able to suffer His only Son on the Cross for our sake then there is really nothing else He can not do for us. Our security lies in the knowledge that God is always with us. We should always have this hope in a God who loves us so much that He sacrificed His only begotten Son to the point of a humiliating and gruesome death so that we can start a new life with Him full of joy and prosperity. If we decide for God in what we say or do in all circumstances then we can surely experience the joy and happiness that God has in store for His faithful people. If we are all set and very sure where we are headed then nothing can stop us from being there. Considering, too that we have a God who has secured a place and our future for us. John 14:1-3, " Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be." Nothing or no one can prevent us unless we ourselves decide not to go. The truth is, it's all up to us. If we decide for God in what we say or do in all circumstances then we can surely experience the joy and happiness that God has in store for His faithful people. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32

R: They will praise you, Lord, who long for you.

25 [26] I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him. 26 [27] The lowly shall eat their fill; they who seek the LORD shall praise him: “May your hearts be ever merry!” (R) 27 [28] All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations shall bow down before him. 29 [30] To him alone shall bow down all who sleep in the earth; before him shall bend all who go down into the dust. (R) And to him my soul shall live; 30 [31] my descendants shall serve him. Let the coming generation be told of the LORD 31 [32] that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has shown. (R)

Two miracles took place in today's gospel and it should leave us in awe at the tremendous power of Jesus. There is no room for doubt all we have to do is just have faith. The woman in today’s gospel with hemorrhages for twelve years and Jairus whose daughter is at the point of death have something in common. They have faith in Christ. A woman was considered of no social standing during that time, and to be a pagan/Gentile only added to her worthlessness she wan not even addressed with her own name. The woman touched the tassel of Jesus in the midst of the crowd bustling about trying to push and touch Him. As specifically written, Jesus was aware at once that power had gone out from him. The crowd tries to get a hold of Jesus but doesn’t allow the power of Jesus to go out of Him. . How come Jesus feels one woman touched him. What made the difference is her faith. The result of her faith is power. He is present in the sacraments. We touch Jesus in the Eucharist but we have to approach the Eucharist with this hemorrhagic woman’s kind of faith, expecting Jesus to do something for us, as we receive Him. Allow Him to come to our heart, make life better spiritually, give us the power to rid us of the burden of sin. We may not have lived at the time when Jesus walked about the earth and healed the sick but we can touch Him in the flesh. It is true that we are touching Jesus in the sacraments especially the Eucharist but when we do not have faith there is no effect.  Let us not fall into the trap of becoming overly familiar with Jesus as we receive the sacraments regularly or even daily for some. This familiarity makes us lose the awe and wonder of our faith that it wears off. We have to maintain and sustain our faith. Whenever we come in contact with Him let us ask Him to give us greater things, to heal us and change us as we touch him. Jesus is healing us in the way that the doctors can not do and is made possible through the sacraments. Is there anything else that Jesus is not capable of doing? We should answer these questions ourselves and really feel in our heart and impress in our mind the resounding truth about Jesus. If we are to imagine that woman touching the cloak of Jesus to the point that it really feels so real that we could almost feel the cloak of Jesus flowing around Him and touching our skin we would surely feel goose bumps all over. Somehow we could identify with the woman since she has been longing and desiring for a cure to her disease for quite a long time already and we in our lives sometimes encounter situations when we've been waiting for the answer to our prayers for a long time and have utilized every possible means and yet things did not get any better and felt that we were not helped at all but instead made things grew worse. One way or another we may all have felt that way. As days, weeks, months and even years go by we should come to a point when we can also develop that same faith of the woman in the gospel who got cured just by touching the cloak of Jesus and in turn will finally receive the long awaited blessing we all have been waiting for. Another important thing that is being pointed out today is the certainty and reality of death and our desire to live forever. There is indeed an explanation as to why people doesn't want to die and wanted to avoid even talk or mention about death. It goes way back to the time of creation when God never meant for us to die at all but because of our consent to sin, death entered the world. It's a good thing that despite all of these we are assured in Jesus that we can still take part in God's original plan to live life to the full for eternity. Amen. Hallelujah!

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 and pressed upon 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.