On the last Sunday of June we are called to reflect on our faith. Pope Francis: How willing are you to trust the Lord?
The miracle follows faith, not the other way around. I am heard because I believe, I do not believe because I am heard. Here is the truth to believe.
The Holy Father brings today’s reflection to a crucial point of our faith. When are we willing to trust ourselves in difficulties? The figures of today’s Gospel teach us a lot.
Sunny and very hot Sunday in Rome, which does not discourage those who do not spare sacrifice in order to listen to the living voice of our Pontiff at the Angelus appointment. This week has also been difficult on the front of the ongoing wars. But precisely when the darkness is thick we need to return to the roots of faith. And the Pope leads us today. As happened to the saints Romanian martyrs who remember today that they were not afraid of losing their lives to bear witness to the faith. We too live in a time of martyrdom, in many parts of the world Christians are persecuted and with their blood they fertilize the Church. Let us be inspired by their testimony as by that of the figures presented to us in today’s Gospel.
Two miracles that are intertwined. Jesus is going to the house of one of the leaders of the synagogue because his daughter is dying, and in fact dies before he arrives, and a woman who has had a hemorrhage for a long time touches his matello. Two miracles, one of resurrection and one of healing, told in a single episode. The two miracles occur through physical contact. The woman touches Jesus’ cloak and He touches the little girl. They are due donne considerate impure, one because she is dead, the other is losing blood, there can be no physical contact with them. Jesus lets himself be touched and is not afraid to touch. Before physical healing it undermines a wrong religious conception according to which God separates the pure from the impure. Jesus does not separate because impurity comes from the heart. In the face of suffering of the body and spirit, in the face of wounds and sin, God does not keep us at a distance, does not judge, comes to meet us, takes us by the hand and invites us to get up again.
Jesus suffered all the consequences of sin to save us. He is a beautiful image God takes you by the hand and raises you up, enters into pain and heals. She does not discriminate against anyone because she loves everyone. But do we believe it? Do we help others get up or label people for what they have done or based on our tastes and needs? We need the church and society not to exclude or treat anyone as impure, without labels, without prejudice, but where everyone is loved without reserve.
Fulfilled because I believe
The figures presented in today’s liturgy are commendable testimonies of faith before which Jesus presents himself as the life-loving God. Jairus beggar the concern of Jesus the woman does not pretend the master’s first-person attention desires to touch her cloak, she is certain that the mere touch of the garment will restore her sanity. The beating heart of both is the certainty that they will be answered; therefore, the focal point is not the gravity of evil but rather faith in the power of the Lord.
Both are not from the group of Jesus’ disciples but their hearts do not waver even for a moment. This confirms what Pope Francis is continually reminding us: God does not show partiality He personally welcomes everyone, absolutely everyone, we just need to recognize that we are in need of Him and His help. This is how it should be for each of us, No one should feel like they are too much for the Master, no one should think that he will be punished for his distance. Regardless of the backstory what matters in his eyes is humility of those who recognize themselves as weak, in need of healing and entrust themselves to him.
For how low we have fallen, for when we drown in sin the power of healing The Lord can heal everything, He only wants us to abandon ourselves to Him. The Pope urges us to pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus so that He may convert the hearts of those who have political, social, military and economic responsibilities in countries at war, so that they may abandon destruction and death and begin projects of peace.
