13th Sunday B

13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Readings: Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24  2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15  Mark 5:21-43

“Fear is useless.  What is needed is trust.”  These words of Jesus to Jairus capture the message of this Sunday’s readings.  In the midst of a world seemingly dominated by sin, disease, and death, we hear that God and Jesus offer forgiveness, healing and life that will eventually conquer these evils.  We are challenged by the faith of the woman with the hemorrhage and the grieving Jairus to set aside fear and experience Jesus’ healing and life-giving power so that we can pray in the words of the responsorial psalm: “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me” (Ps 30:2).

The Old Testament reading from the Book of Wisdom is part of an exhortation to Jews living in Egypt during the Hellenistic period who were tempted to abandon their faith in God’s creation and justice for a materialistic philosophy that advocated a decadent life of pleasure and immorality (see Wisdom 1:16-2:21).  Using a reflection on the creation stories in Genesis 1-3, the author of Wisdom insists that God fashioned humans in the divine image to have life, being and health.  The way to share in this lasting life is through the pursuit of justice which “is undying” and will triumph over physical death (see Wisdom 3:1-9).  In contrast, a choice for a life of selfish pleasure-seeking and persecution of the just will lead to spiritual death, even in this life.  In the words of the author, “But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,/ and they who are in his possession experience it.”

The 2 Corinthians reading is part of Paul’s appeal for the Corinthians to contribute to the collection he has promised for the struggling church in Jerusalem.  He gives both a theological basis for charity and a practical scriptural argument for being generous. The foundation for the Corinthians’ charity is Christ’s self-emptying incarnation and saving death in their behalf.  “You are well acquainted with the favor shown you by our Lord Jesus Christ: how for your sake he made himself poor though he was rich, so that you might become rich by his poverty.”  Because the Corinthians have been well-endowed with spiritual and material blessings, the “relief” of others should not impoverish them.  “Your plenty at the present time should supply their need so that their surplus may in turn one day supply your need, with equality as the result.”  The scriptural basis for this confidence that generosity will be result in equity is found in the story of God’s gift of manna in the Exodus 16: “It is written, ‘He who gathered much had no excess and he who gathered little had no lack.’”

The Gospel selection presents the anguish of death and disease from the perspectives of an anxious father whose 12-year-old daughter is critically ill and a desperate woman who has suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years.  In both cases Mark emphasizes the apparent hopelessness of the situation.  The woman has received treatment from doctors of every sort and exhausted her savings, but has only grown worse.  Likewise, when Jairus arrives at his home, the people tell him, “Your daughter is dead.  Why bother the Teacher further?”

Despite these bleak prospects, both put unwavering trust in Jesus’ power to bring healing and life.  Jairus initially asks Jesus for help in the most straightforward way, “My little daughter is critically ill.  Please come and lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live.”  And when the crowd at the house begins to ridicule Jesus, Jairus and his wife believe in Jesus’ assurance that the child is not dead, but only asleep.  Likewise, the woman with the hemorrhage says to herself with great faith, “If I just touch his clothing, I will get well.”

At the center of both episodes is, of course, Jesus as the source of saving power which points to the ultimate gift of his saving death and resurrection.  In the Greek text the verbs used for “be healed” (sothē) and “live” (zesē) are technical terms in the early Church for salvation and resurrected life.  Even in his Galilean ministry, Jesus is already exercising the saving power of the resurrected Lord.  His words to the woman are really an invitation to live the newness of a faith-filled life.  “Daughter, it is your faith that has saved you.  Go in peace and be free of this illness.”  The Aramiac words which Jesus addresses to Jairus’ daughter, “Talitha cumi” are also an invitation to live the renewed life of the resurrection.  When they are translated by Mark into Greek, they become, “Little girl, arise.”