On this 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time we hear in the Gospel of Mark two examples of faith-inspired requests for Jesus’ help. The first is from Jairus, a synagogue official seeking help for his dying daughter and the other from an unnamed woman who has been unwell for a long time. And just as in last weekend’s Lukan Gospel-the story of the birth of Saint John the Baptist—faith and trust in God are key to receiving the Lord’s blessings.

As we recall from Luke, the father of John the Baptist—Zachariah—was a man who doubted his faith in God. A man who was supposed to be in priestly service doubts God and becomes mute—some speculate as a punishment for his unbelief in God. But at his son’s birth and naming—Zachariah returns to faith and gives his son the name of John, as called for in Scripture. Immediately, God frees and loosens the tongue of Zachariah.

Today in the Gospel of Mark rather than have two more examples of people who doubt God rather they illustrate their belief in God in the middle of two very difficult situations: Jairus believes his daughter is about to die and the unnamed woman is at her wit’s end having spent all her money on many doctors to no avail. Yet they believed and they asked.

Jesus travels to the home of Jairus and even when the synagogue official’s household comes to tell Him He is too late to help, Jesus continues on and returns the 12-year old girl to full life. With the words: "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" “The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. All were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.” Not only did the Lord heal her, but Jesus is concerned with Her immortal soul and with her physical needs—Jesus is here among us and is concerned about all—every single one—of our needs. There is nothing that God will not give us, nor is there nothing about our lives with which He is unconcerned. He loves us.

For the woman hemorrhaging for more than 12 years, Jesus allows His power to come from Him and heal her—even though all she did was touch His clothes. She believed that if she but touched the Lord, she would be healed. Jesus responds to her silent request with these words of love: "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." True enough, she fell to her knees and told him the “whole truth” not as in making her beg for
healing but rather that she express her faith publically, as a witness for others. What are the take-a-ways from this gospel?

• God loves what He has created;
• God desires us to love Him in return, and that “retuned love” is given back to the Father in our expressed faith; and,
• God who created us in love, then redeemed us in love by His Son’s Body and Blood, and now sends the Holy Spirit (which is the love between the Father and the Son) to us as an unending refreshment of His love for us to continue to nourish us so that we may learn, know, trust and grow in faith—that we will continue to turn to Him in times of need.

Whether we hear of the miracles of Lazarus or the widow of Nain or whether we hear of Zachariah’s freed tongue or the unnamed woman being healed of her hemorrhages or the young daughter of Jairus being brought to life—it is faith in God: His Power and His Love—for us that brings us close to God. We are called to be a people of faith. In the Gospel of John
(20:29), the Lord Jesus said: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” As Roman Catholics, we must come to believe in the Truth that Jesus came to bring to the created world—we do this by listening and meditating on His Word in Sacred Scripture, by studying His Truths as proclaimed by the teachings of the Church (and I don’t mean just reading and
accepting but rather delving into His teachings and seeing the “why” behind the “Thou Shalt Not…”), by reading and understanding the more than 2,000 years of study gifted to us by the scholars and saints of the Church; and as we are called to distinguish between the Truth of Christ and the myths perpetuated by culture, politics and even family traditions. After all,
God came in search of us on earth to bring His Truth—which is Love—and He believes we are
eternally worth it. Our choice must be to come to know Him fully.

Saint Catherine of Siena adds to the above with this powerful quote: “He will provide the way and the means, such as you could never have imagined. Leave it all to Him, let go of yourself, lose yourself on the Cross—and you will find yourself entirely.” Thus, know God as the Creator
and Redeemer of all—just ask Him for whatever you need and He will grant you abundant blessings.