Reading

Gospel text (Mt 9:18-26):

Gospel

While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout all that land.

Comments

Today, the Liturgy of the Word invites us to admire two magnificent manifestations of faith. So magnificent that they merited to touch the heart of Jesus Christ and provoke—immediately—his response. The Lord cannot be outdone in generosity!

“My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live” (Mt 9:18). We could almost say that with strong faith we “oblige” God. He relishes this kind of obligation. The other testimony of faith in today's Gospel is also impressive: “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured” (Mt 9:22).

One could say that God even willingly allows himself to be “manipulated” by our good faith. What he does not allow is for us to tempt him out of distrust. This was the case with Zechariah, who asked the archangel Gabriel for proof: “Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this?’” (Lk 1:18). The Archangel did not flinch one bit: "I am Gabriel, who stand before God. ... But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time" (Lk 1:19-20). And so it was.

It is He himself who wants to "oblige" and "bind" Himself to our faith: "I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Lk 11:9). He is our Father and does not want to deny anything that is good for his children.

But it is necessary to confidently present our requests to him; trust and kinship with God require contact: to trust someone, we must know him; and to know him, we must interact with him. Thus, "Faith pours out prayer, and the pouring out of prayer obtains the strengthening of faith" (Saint Augustine). Let us not forget the praise that Holy Mary merited: "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45).

Thoughts on Today's Gospel

• “Even if we are lying on the bed of our sins and our body, if Jesus touches us, we will be healed instantly.” (Saint Jerome)
• “Jesus Christ came to defeat Evil at the root and instances of healing are an anticipation of his triumph, obtained with his death and Resurrection.” (Benedict XVI)
• “‘Heal the sick!’ (Mt 10:8). The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. She believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies (...)” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nº 1509)