Gospel Reflection written by Sr. Rosemary Finnegan, O.P.
Readings from: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/01312023.cfm
Our gospel today is like a sandwich, that is, the story of the woman with the hemorrhage is sandwiched in the middle of the story of Jairus’ daughter. If you’ve seen the wonderful new series on Christ’s life called ‘The Chosen’, which is free and can be found on YouTube, you’ll remember this scene, the distress of all those involved in these incidents, and the emotions that are played out so vividly.
Although these stories are different, they share many similarities:
- The term “daughter” is used in both by Jesus and Jairus
- Jairus daughter is 12 years old, the same length of time the woman has been suffering
- Both the young girl and the woman are unnamed, which says a lot about their social standing
- The woman’s uncontrolled hemorrhaging renders her unclean; the young girl is a corpse. Both are considered as good as dead.
- Both are restored by Jesus’ touch, even though Jewish people were forbidden to touch unclean people.
- Both cures were very public, but the cures themselves happened privately.
Most importantly, however, what these two stories share is faith. Jairus, a man of stature in the community and synagogue, approaches Jesus with great faith. The woman humbly prostrates herself before Jesus. Both actions are not moves of timidity; they are bold moves which should be the attitude and posture of all believers.
How well do we practice our faith? The witness of Jairus and the woman who reached out to Jesus should give us pause to wonder how actively and consistently we boldly step out in faith to God with our needs and the needs of others.
Today we celebrate the feast of another person of faith: John Bosco. Born in Italy in 1815, he was raised by his widowed mother. A devout child, he had dreams at 9 years old that he would someday work with abandoned boys. He left home at 12, worked in a vineyard, and later discerned the priesthood. He was ordained in 1841. His service to young people started when he met a poor orphan and instructed him in preparation for receiving Holy Communion. He then gathered more poor young people and taught them the catechism and vocational trades like shoemaking and tailoring. He believed in educating the whole person, body and soul, and that Christ’s love and our faith should pervade everything we do—work, study, play. By 1856, his group had grown to 150 boys and he had added a printing press for publication of religious and catechetical pamphlets.
With Pope Pius IX’s encouragement, John gathered 17 men in 1859 and founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales, called the Salesians. Their focus was on education and mission work. Later, he organized a group of Salesian Sisters to assist girls.
As we reflect on the faith of Jairus, the healed woman, and St. John Bosco, let’s also reflect on how bold is our faith. May the words of Jesus to Jairus echo in our hearts this day: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
