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| “Raising of the Daughter of Jairus” (detail) Paolo Veronese, c. 1546 |
Reading 1: Genesis 28:10-22a
Jacob departed from
Beer-sheba and proceeded toward Haran
When he came upon a certain
shrine, as the sun had already set,
he stopped there for the
night.
Taking one of the stones at
the shrine, he put it under his head
and lay down to sleep at that
spot.
Then he had a dream: a
stairway rested on the ground,
with its top reaching to the
heavens;
and God's messengers were
going up and down on it.
And there was the LORD
standing beside him and saying:
"I, the LORD, am the God
of your forefather Abraham
and the God of Isaac;
the land on which you are
lying
I will give to you and your
descendants.
These shall be as plentiful
as the dust of the earth,
and through them you shall
spread out east and west, north and south.
In you and your descendants
all the nations of the earth
shall find blessing.
Know that I am with you;
I will protect you wherever
you go,
and bring you back to this
land.
I will never leave you until
I have done what I promised you."
When Jacob awoke from his
sleep, he exclaimed,
"Truly, the LORD is in
this spot, although I did not know it!"
In solemn wonder he cried
out: "How awesome is this shrine!
This is nothing else but an
abode of God,
and that is the gateway to
heaven!"
Early the next morning Jacob
took the stone
that he had put under his
head,
set it up as a memorial
stone, and poured oil on top of it.
He called the site Bethel
whereas the former name of
the town had been Luz.
Jacob then made this vow:
"If God remains with me,
to protect me on this journey
I am making
and to give me enough bread
to eat and clothing to wear,
and I come back safe to my
father's house, the LORD shall be my God.
This stone that I have set up
as a memorial stone shall be God's abode."
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Commentary on Gn 28:10-22a
The story of the first patriarchs
of the Jewish people continues with the story of “Jacob’s Dream.” Jacob takes a
stone from a shrine at the holy place he later calls Bethel and
uses it for a pillow. He has a dream in which God gives him and his descendants
the land.
The notion of God being especially
present in a specific physical location represents an ancient Jewish belief
(shared by many other ancient near-eastern religions) that God came to earth at
“high places,” or special places requiring sacrifice to be offered and altars
to be set up. God’s revelation in Christ informs us that God is omnipresent,
that is, in all places equally present.
CCC: Gn 28:10-22 2573
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab
R. (see 2b) In you, my God, I place my trust.
You who dwell in the shelter
of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of
the Almighty,
Say to the LORD, "My
refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I
trust."
R. In you, my God, I place
my trust.
For he will rescue you from
the snare of the fowler,
from the destroying
pestilence.
With his pinions he will
cover you,
and under his wings you shall
take refuge.
R. In you, my God, I place
my trust.
Because he clings to me, I
will deliver him;
I will set him on high
because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I
will answer him;
I will be with him in
distress.
R. In you, my God, I place
my trust.
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Commentary on Ps 91:1-2, 3-4, 14-15ab
The hymn of
thanksgiving, that is Psalm 91, gives praise to God for the salvation of his
people. He saves those who believe in him
from distress and fear through his consolation and mercy.
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Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26
While Jesus was speaking, an
official came forward,
knelt down before him, and
said,
"My daughter has just
died.
But come, lay your hand on
her, and she will live."
Jesus rose and followed him,
and so did his disciples.
A woman suffering hemorrhages
for twelve years came up behind him
and touched the tassel on his
cloak.
She said to herself, "If
only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured."
Jesus turned around and saw
her, and said,
"Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you."
And from that hour the woman
was cured.
When Jesus arrived at the
official's house
and saw the flute players and
the crowd who were making a commotion,
he said, "Go away! The
girl is not dead but sleeping."
And they ridiculed him.
When the crowd was put out,
he came and took her by the hand,
and the little girl arose.
And news of this spread
throughout all that land.
Commentary on Mt 9:18-26
Jesus continues his journey in this
passage from Matthew’s Gospel. Again he engages in healing those who have faith
in him. First, in a situation similar to the incident with the centurion's
servant (Matthew 8:5-11; Luke 7:1-10), he is
asked to help an official. As he is responding to that request, a woman with a
hemorrhage approaches Jesus and reaches out to him. As she touches the tassel
of his cloak, she experiences healing in that touch. In Mark and Luke the story
is much more detailed. The Lord feels this touch and seeks out the woman
(see Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48).
Jesus arrives at the official's
home and heals his daughter. In Mark’s Gospel (Mark 5:23) she was
at the point of death, here she had already “fallen asleep,” meaning she had
died. Again, Jesus, seeing the faith of the requester, raises her from her
deathbed to new life.
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Reflection:
If we truly believe in the
authority of Christ over death, death itself ceases to be a cause for
fear. If we truly believe Christ can
heal us, a touch of his cloak will accomplish that healing. How difficult it is to take that leap of
faith. The Lord was wise indeed when he
said: “whoever does not accept the kingdom of God
How can we come to such
faith? We know and understand that faith
is a gift from God. We also know that through faith flows all the grace and
strength we need. We know that faith,
like physical strength, can be grown through proper exercise and diet (exercise
for faith is practice, and diet is the Word of God and sacraments). And herein lays the paradox. As we mature in our faith, we see all the
depth and complexity of the truth Christ was pleased to reveal to us. We hear his command to love God and
others. We can comprehend that this is
done most completely by an innocent child (before they are taught by us not to
trust or even speak to strangers; how insidious is the evil one who forces us
to take away that innocence for their protection).
Yet our own experiences of
life force us to take a more mature view of the world and people around
us. Our experiences of being hurt, trust
being violated, and hatred by others, causes us to reject the innocent faith we
need to embrace Christ’s teachings.
Always it seems that even as we reach out to touch that tassel of Jesus’
cloak, we pull back, afraid of what will happen (or what will not).
Today we pray for faith, the
innocent faith of a child, that through it we might experience the healing
miracle of the woman with a hemorrhage who through her faith was cured. May God grant us trust in his infinite love
and compassion this day.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “Raising of the Daughter of Jairus” (detail) Paolo Veronese, c.
1546
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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