Tuesday - February 01, 2022
--St. Thomas Aquinas
TODAY'S READINGS
TUESDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Lectionary: 324
Absalom unexpectedly came up against David’s servants.
He was mounted on a mule,
and, as the mule passed under the branches of a large terebinth,
his hair caught fast in the tree.
He hung between heaven and earth
while the mule he had been riding ran off.
Someone saw this and reported to Joab
that he had seen Absalom hanging from a terebinth.
And taking three pikes in hand,
he thrust for the heart of Absalom,
still hanging from the tree alive.
Now David was sitting between the two gates,
and a lookout went up to the roof of the gate above the city wall,
where he looked about and saw a man running all alone.
The lookout shouted to inform the king, who said,
“If he is alone, he has good news to report.”
The king said, “Step aside and remain in attendance here.”
So he stepped aside and remained there.
When the Cushite messenger came in, he said,
“Let my lord the king receive the good news
that this day the LORD has taken your part,
freeing you from the grasp of all who rebelled against you.”
But the king asked the Cushite, “Is young Absalom safe?”
The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king
and all who rebel against you with evil intent
be as that young man!”
The king was shaken,
and went up to the room over the city gate to weep.
He said as he wept,
“My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom!
If only I had died instead of you,
Absalom, my son, my son!”
Joab was told that the king was weeping and mourning for Absalom;
and that day’s victory was turned into mourning for the whole army
when they heard that the king was grieving for his son.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1a) Listen, Lord, and answer me.
Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God.
R. Listen, Lord, and answer me.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R. Listen, Lord, and answer me.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Listen, Lord, and answer me.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.
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.
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Fear is a waste of time
Jesus says in today's Gospel reading, "Don't be afraid -- just have faith." Why did Jesus talk about fear instead of grief when he and the disciples received the news that it was too late to heal Jairus' little girl? What were the people afraid of? Before the girl had died, her loved ones were afraid she would die, but afterward, there was only sadness.
Or was there?
Jesus knew that he'd have no problem raising the girl back to life if she died before he reached her, but everyone else was afraid that his power wasn't miraculous enough for that. To them, the child's last breath was Jesus' final opportunity to heal her. When they didn't get what they wanted, they thought: "It's too late."
Has a time limit passed in your life, and it seems too late for Jesus to make a difference? Is there someone who's been on a deadly path and now you're afraid it's too late for them to change?
Perhaps you know people who are refusing to accept Jesus into their lives, and you're afraid they will die without him. Or a loved one is on a self-destructive course of addictions. Or what if you've worked long and hard to raise a child in the faith, and all seems for naught -- how many years of not going to Mass is too long?
Jesus knows that he can raise our loved ones from the pit of destruction, even if they make all the wrong decisions. Do we know this, too? If we believe in Jesus, yes, we know this. Faith is not based on what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears. Faith is not based on anything logical. Faith is a matter of believing in the truth about Jesus. And faith tells us that nothing is impossible for God. If what we want from him is good, he wants to give it more than we want to receive it!
Certainly, people have to be willing to let Jesus help them. Jairus' daughter could have said, "No, I like being dead. It's much more peaceful here." This is where our faith helps others. Jesus brought in the girl's parents (the people who cared most about her) and his own friends (the people who had already witnessed his miracles). He sent everyone else out. Is this because the parents and disciples had no fear and no doubts? I doubt that. It's because miracles are a community event. Jesus works through the people around us who have faith and believe in his mercy.
Forget what fear tells you. Listen to the truth about Jesus. Your faith can make a difference. You can stand in the gap -- between life and death, healing and destruction -- for those whose faith is weak or non-existent. Jesus will show you how.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, You want to deliver me from everything that chains, torments and blocks me from being fully joyful. Give me the grace of letting you work in me, not scandalizing and not being afraid of the changes you want to make in my life. Give me docility and courage to receive the great blessings You prepared for me. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
