13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for 02 July 2006
Fr. Bob Scanlan

I am sound asleep on a hot Saturday Night in early July. I am “on-call” at the hospital. The pager goes off. The return phone number is the Emergency Department. I call and speak to the nurse. “We have a code yellow category A—a roll-over; 17 year old girl---no vitals in the field”. My response, “My ETA is 20 minutes”. I arrive at the hospital Emergency Room; family is not there yet. I go immediately to the trauma room. Shortly there after family arrive. I tell the family their daughter is very critical but alive. The E.R. team is working frantically. I am in the trauma unit praying as the medical team continues their work. Suddenly her heart goes into “v-tack”—ventricular tachycardia---her heart is out of control. Her heart stops. Shocking her and injections directly into her heart are of no avail. The doctor “calls the code”. Time of death is recorded at 1:48 a.m.

The doctor and I go to the family room to tell her family that their 17 year old daughter is dead. After out bursts of uncontrollable grieving, calmness comes over the family. Many more times than not the family response is, “Why did God do this to us?” “She did not deserve this!” “She never harmed anyone in her life.”

At times like this I recall the first line from our first reading this morning in the Book of Wisdom, “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.” Her BAC (Blood Alcohol Count) is twice the legal limit. She was drunk. She lost control of her car. Her car hit a tree. She was killed. God did not cause her death. She caused her own death.

Why is our response at times of tragedy many times to “blame God” when it is not God at all who caused the situation. Have we always taken control of our own lives? Have we always been prepared and cautious?

The Gospel of Mark relates two examples of healing: one the daughter of the official named Jairus whose twelve year old daughter was very ill—to the point of death. Jesus healed her with a simple touch. He said to her, “Talitha Koum”---which means, “Little Girl, I say to you, arise!” The other example is of a woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years. She had this condition for as long as the daughter of Jairus had been alive. This example concludes again with a healing touch. However this woman was the one to reach out and touch the garment of Jesus—just getting close enough---to receive the healing touch. Jesus has the healing power to touch each of us to cure that which is holding us back from being the whole person we were meant to be.

As the saying goes, “Pray like everything depends on God and work like everything depends on you.” The woman with the hemorrhage did just that. She had tried everything, been to every doctor, sought every treatment, did everything she knew of doing, but one thing was lacking: her trust in the healing power of God.

Imagine the scene. A large crowd is walking with Jesus. Many are trying to get close to him to hear his every word. Pushing and shoving are the norm. The woman approaches Jesus in fear and apprehension. If I can just touch him; she reaches out to touch him and is immediately cured. “Your faith has saved you”.

Both these stories show us the faith and trust placed in Jesus. Jairus knew that Jesus could and would cure his daughter. The woman also knew that Jesus was the answer to her sickness. Both had the necessary faith. Both turned to Jesus.

Are there times when you feel like you have tried everything and nothing seems to work? Are there times that you feel God caused this suffering? Why did God cause this to our family?

What was the message to be learned by the woman with the hemorrhage for 12 years? Had she turned to Jesus earlier would she have been cured?

Perhaps and perhaps not. One of the great mysteries in life is trying to figure out why some are healed and others not. Why do some survive a car accident and others not? Why do some survive cancer and others not? There are so very many points of healing in our life. Have we not heard, “My ways are not your ways”?

My faith in Jesus tells me that when I turn to Jesus and place my trust and faith in him, I will be cured. My cure may not be in the area that I feel I need but none the less, I will be cured. I may need to take 12 years or longer to realize the point of my cure, but Jesus will not turn his back on me; nor will he turn his back on you.

In what areas of your life do you need to be cured? Reach out to touch Jesus. You will be cured---maybe not in the way you think---but you will be cured.