25th Sunday of the Year (B)

First reading: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 54
Second reading: James 3:16 - 4:3
Gospel reading: Mark 9:30-37

"Whoever welcomes a child such as this for My sake welcomes Me."

For the 25th Sunday of the Year (B), we are invited to reflect on
a passage in chapter 9 of Mark's gospel. Jesus repeats to His
disciples how He would soon be arrested, put to death, but three
days after rise again. Then when they journeyed back to their
home in Capernaum, the disciples were arguing among themselves
about who was the most important. Once they arrived the house,
and Jesus learned of what happened along the way, He sat down
and took the occasion to teach the TWelve: "If anyone wishes to
rank first, he must remain the last one of all and the servant
of all." Then taking a child beside Him, He said, "Whoever
welcomes a child such as this for My sake welcomes Me."

During the time of Jesus, women and children are not important in
their Jewish culture; only the men counted. That is why in the
miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, the head count was
made among the men - not counting women and children. As Jesus
preached and taught about the Kingdom of God, He created a
reversal of importance from the perspective of our relationship
with the Father. For Jesus, what is really important is the
childlike quality of complete and full trust in someone of higher
rank or authority. To enter the Kingdom of God, we are thus
called to be like children - having full confidence and faith in
One who wielded divine authority and power.

Power struggles and instability can happen in the family, when
its members are focused on other things besides God. Squabbles,
sibling rivalry, rebellion, abuse, disrespectfulness, and envy
results when the household forgets the one thing necessary: their
common faith relationship in God's authority. In relation to
this, that is why the tradition of enthroning the Sacred Heart of
Jesus in a home is vital, because it bring peace and harmony to
all the members of the household. The Sacred Heart reminds us all
that we have to love God above all things and with our whole
being; and to love our neighbor as ourself. Every family member
acknowledges that Jesus is central to their family life and place
their full trust in Him.

Let us therefore take this opportunity to reflect if we have
those childlike qualities Jesus is looking for in us. Do we place
our full trust and confidence in God as a child does to his
father? Or do we rely more on our own strength and intelligence
when we relate to our family and with others? Which direction is
telling me that I am welcoming Christ and His will that we be
children of God?

"If I just touch His clothing...I shall get well."

First reading: Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 30
Second reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15
Gospel reading: Mark 5:21-43

"If I just touch His clothing...I shall get well."

Mark 5:21-43 tells a story of Jesus' healing ministry. It is the story of Jairus, a synagogue official, who fell at the feet of Jesus and made an earnest appeal for his critically ill daughter.  So the Lord Jesus went with Jairus, while a large crowd followed them. As they went on, there was a woman in the area who had been afflicted with hemorrhage for many years.  Doctors could not heal her ailment, and her sickness grew worse. When the woman heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him to touch His clothing - believing that just by a mere touch, she would get well. After she did touch the Lord's clothing, her flow of blood dried up. She got well. Jesus learned what happened, and said to the woman, "your faith has cured you." After this incident, Jesus and Jairus finally arrived at their destination. They entered the house and Jesus saw the girl lying in bed. She took the child by the hand and said, "Talitha koum", which means, "little girl, get up." The girl, a child of twelve, stood up immediately and began to walk around.

This healing story in chapter 5 of Mark's gospel is really two miracle stories combined into one. Bible scholar Wilfrid Harrington in his book, "Mark", teaches that this is St. Mark's "sandwich" technique. Mark uses two verses (verse 24 and verse 35) to tie up two healing stories into one. Harrington then also adds that this technique of Mark presents "salvation and faith" as the major themes of this twin miracles. "Salvation through healing" was made possible by the touch of Jesus. At Jesus' touch, Jairus' daughter got well (verse 23); and the woman with the hemorrhage was convinced that if she touches the garment of Jesus, she will be made well (verse 28).

All humanity share the human condition of vulnerability to ailments and illnesses. However, the twin miracles from Mark's gospel present to us a God who gives genuine hope for healing. We only have to look at our own personal experiences to see that God provides us with enough strength to help ourselves and reach out to Him in prayer. And to believe that miracles still and do happen. Not only do we have strength to help ourselves, God provides us also with family, friends, and co-workers to help us find means to improve our health.. This is a truth we should value well: that God, in the person of Christ Jesus, gives us all the means, that we may hope in Him for anything, especially for whatever health conditions we, or our family members need..

"Who can this be that the wind and sea obey Him?"

First reading: Job 38:1,8-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 107
Second reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Gospel reading: Mark 4:35-41

"Who can this be that the wind and sea obey Him?"

The gospel presents a miracle story: Jesus stilling the storm. This is how the miracle took place. Jesus and His disciples leave the crowd, and ride in boats further out into the sea. At sea, a bad squall blew up, and the waves were breaking over the boat. The disciples became alarmed and went to Jesus - who was in the stern sound asleep. They woke Jesus up, and expressed their alarm - fearing that they would all perish. Jesus immediately responded, rebuked the wind and stilled the sea with a command from His voice. Suddenly, everything became calm. Jesus then said to His disciples, "Why are you so terrified? Why lack in faith?"  A great awe filled the hearts of the disciples, for they have just witnessed something no ordinary man can do - to command the wind and the sea to obey.

In his book, "The Miracle Stories", bible scholar and author Herman Hendrickx says that the previous verses of this gospel passage writes about Christ withdrawing from the crowd. These people flock to Christ whom they have heard to be a healer. But Christ withdraws from certain persons in the crowd whose unclean spirits wanted to make Him known as the "exorcistic Son of God". Fr. Herman Hendricks teaches that Jesus had to withdraw from the crowds because He did not want to be identified as only a "healer-exorcist". And indeed, the miracle of the calming of the storm has proven that the Lord Jesus was more than just a "healer-exorcist". The calming of the storm leads us to see Him in the context of the divine.

It took time before the apostles got to know who Jesus was. It was only with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that they finally learned the whole truth about their Master. Like the apostles, we too have to make sense of who Jesus is for us. In the journey of faith, we will experience many ills and sins healed by God in the sacraments. These are the miracles of grace that we encounter. These are the everyday miracles of faith, courage, hope and holding on to Christ in prayer and the Sacraments. As we experience these "miracles" that save us from the "storms of life", we grow in a deeper knowledge and love of God. It this knowledge and love of God that impelled the apostles to preach the Kingdom. We too, by our baptismal consecration, are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and His apostles.