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We see in the gospel of this weekend very beautiful scenes. A sick woman, a dead girl, men discontented and crushed by pain, families taken aback by death, etc. Jesus comes, he stands before these dark and mysterious events, he transforms them. A word from Jesus is above the worst moments of our lives. Faith comes to support us in the worst circumstances and to strengthen us in the best. Let's experience the inner power of faith in God. We see how the inability of doctors to heal a sick woman responds to the healing strength of faith in Jesus; the power of death that has been imposed on the life of Jairus' daughter responds to a greater power of Jesus to bring him back to life by virtue of faith.
These two evangelical examples show that God did not create death, but He is the Lord of Life and therefore has power over death itself. The strength of faith and the power of God are manifested in the lives of Christians, through the power of faith, we are able to overcome ethnic and cultural, mental and political barriers, and express our fraternal charity to others as early Christians. The most beautiful norm is transmitted by Jesus with his example and the apostles in his preaching: love, peace, healing, charity.
Some aspects of our thinking:
Faith overcomes death. The power of death is universal. It is a disturbing power, which causes concern, anxiety. This is a big question stuck in the heart of the story: Does God want the death of man? Does death have the last word? Does it make sense to die? We see today a very clear answer, God's love for us is powerful and more powerful than any shadow of darkness, pain, sickness or destruction. The burden of anguish, despair, nihilism that death brings on our shoulders, comes from the enemy of God and man, from the enemy of life, who is the devil. The man was created in the image of God, Lord of life; therefore, man was created for life, not for death; He was made immortal, like God himself. Whoever believes in God, Lord of life, believes in his power and in the victory of life over death. The power of life over sickness and death finds two instances in the power of faith of hemorrhoids and Jairus.
The helplessness of men and the power of faith. The Gospel presents a very high contrast between human inability to deal with sickness and death, on the one hand, and on the other, the awesome strength of faith. The hemorrhoid had been sick for twelve years, a disease of infertility, terrible for a woman in Jesus' day. He had resorted to all human means, but all had failed. Not only has this not improved, but it has worsened. The woman, in her tragic situation, is desperate. Human disability is manifest. The only attitude towards such an incapacity is faith. What man, with all his means, can not do, can attain the power of faith. With this conviction, he approaches Jesus, touches him with his hand and with faith, and is healed. The same thing happens to Jairo. Your daughter is dead. There is no cure: death has won. Being able to come back to life does not belong to the human experience. But faith is stronger than death. And that is why Jesus will say to Jairo: "Do not be afraid, you just have to have faith". And Jaïre with faith gave a second life to his daughter. Excellent examples for us, men of the period strewn with pessimism and negativity, with the strength of faith.
The power of faith is called charity. The second reading tells us about the collection organized by Pablo in some of the communities founded by him in favor of the needy brothers of Judea. The collection shows the power of faith. Paul and the Christians, coming from the Greco-Roman world, have to overcome very powerful racial prejudices; they must overcome a certain anti-Semitism already existing in Hellenistic culture; they must overcome, first and foremost, the cultural obstacles: the closed mindset of the Christians of Judea, the idea that everyone must be like them, if they want to be genuine Christians. The power of faith in Christ the Lord imposes on all these aspects and pushes Gentile Christians to an extraordinary act of charity, because we are all brothers in Christ and we must help each other.
Faith performs miracles. Certainly, faith in Jesus Christ and in the truths He proposes to believe. But, in a special way, faith as trust and surrender in the power of Jesus Christ. Do not think that the power of faith is something of the past, dark times when faith, superstition, and irrationality walked at the same pace and in a mishmash. The power of faith is limited neither in space nor in time; nor is it limited by the body or the soul. The power of faith is total. Today, there are still miracles, and frequent miracles, in people who, with immense faith, ask God, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin or a saint, to heal the body or the soul. And if faith is so powerful, why do men, on many occasions, have so little faith? What fears are squatting in our minds that prevent us from this gigantic faith capable of blooming the miracle, in the desert of a world perhaps too rational?
Faith acts through charity. Faith creates solidarity. Thank God, in the collective consciousness of our time, there is greater sensitivity to the needs of our Christian brothers and all men. Saint Paul offers the foundation of all love in the example of love for us from Christ, who for us has become poor, rich, so that we may be enriched by his poverty. Christ chooses the poverty of human existence, to change in the eternal wealth of salvation the poverty of all those for whose love he has become poor. If your poverty has enriched the Corinthians and the whole world, now also those who have been greatly benefited should give for authentic love. The action of Christ must continue in the action of Christians. There is a lot to do. What can I do? What can I do for my parish, for my diocese?
Holy Mary Immaculate, of the sweet waiting, pray for us.
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