Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time /
Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Book of Wisdom is the source of the first reading.
When this book originally was written, the plight of God’s people was not good. They had experienced many hardships in their history. Among these experiences was the loss of their national independence accompanied by ongoing humiliation and misery.
Many of the people had left the Holy Land to make new homes elsewhere. But in these new places, if they retained their ethnic and religious identity then they were virtual outcasts.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the obviously devout author of Wisdom took pains to insist that “God does not make death.”
God does not design the hardships and terrors that come upon people. The evil wills of people bring these misfortunes upon others.
Nevertheless, God’s justice and goodness will prevail. It may mean that time is required for the ship of human life to right itself when struck by the strong waves of evil, but the ship will right itself because God’s justice ultimately will prevail.
St. Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians supplies the second reading.
This Scripture reading states a fact that humans, even committed Christians, are inclined to forget. This fact is that the greatest treasure is not that stored in vaults, but rather it is the knowledge of God and the insights for living that this knowledge produces in people.
The Apostle continues to say that if anyone has a surplus in the things of this Earth then this surplus should be put at the disposal of those in need.
For its last reading, the Church this weekend offers us a passage from the Gospel of Mark.
It is a collection of two miracle stories.
In the first story, a synagogue official, Jairus, came to Jesus, saying that that his daughter was critically ill. Jairus was certainly desperate. He feared that his daughter might die. As a synagogue official, he most likely was a religious man.
Always in the Scripture, religious devotion aided a person. Faith illuminated the mind. Faith eased the way for wisdom. So, in his personal goodness and in his religious devotion, Jairus was able to recognize the divine power within Jesus.
Jesus went to the girl’s bedside and healed her. She rose from the bed and walked around. Everyone saw her miraculous recovery. It was not imaginary.
In the second story, a woman with a chronic hemorrhage approached Jesus while he was walking to Jairus’s home. The Gospel does not precisely describe the hemorrhage, but if it was gynecological in nature—as likely it was—then she was by this fact ritually unclean. This factor set her apart outside the community.
Under the same rules, anyone whom she touched also was unclean. However, she touched the garment of Jesus. He allowed it. No earthly circumstance could render the Lord unclean. He was the blameless Son of God.
Her hemorrhage stopped the instant she touched Jesus. He realized her faith, and told her that her faith had cured her.
Reflection
These three readings all remind us that human reasoning can be flawed.
In the first reading, attention obliquely is drawn to the fact that some people willingly hurt others on a modest scale or on a great scale. The minds of oppressors are distorted, but oppressors often continue to work their evil will.
Even good people can fail to see that hardships come not from God, but from nature or the evil acts of others. It is easy to accuse God of actively willing misfortune, and even tragedies, to come into a person’s life.
In the second reading, Paul reminds us that our priorities easily can be confused.
Finally, St. Mark’s Gospel tells us that sickness and anxiety are part of life.
But God does not desert us. Jesus possesses the key to eternal life. We must recognize what life actually is all about. It is not earthly reward. We must have faith. †