The Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In this Sunday’s Gospel, we hear of two persons who were certainly surprised. First, though, they had to go through a desperate situation. Jairus was desperate for a cure for his daughter who was very sick and the unnamed woman was desperate for a cure for her haemorrhage. Jairus knelt at the feet of Jesus and earnestly pleaded with Him. The woman went behind Jesus through the crowd in a desperate bid to touch His cloak. What Jairus and the woman did was certainly not that unbelievable.
In a time of desperation and not having any other options, we would go down on our knees and touch the statues or the holy pictures in order to get some divine attention and hope for divine intervention. But what Jairus and the woman did, and what we would do in a time of desperation, is certainly not unbelievable. The key factor in all this is faith. Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has made you well.” To Jairus, He said, “Do not fear, only believe.”
Yes, the key factor is faith. Because faith sees what is invisible; faith believes the unbelievable; and faith receives the impossible. Because faith believes in the unbelievable, that Jesus will feel those who reach out to touch Him. And that’s why in the Gospel, Jesus turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And His disciples were bewildered and said: “You see the crowd pressing in on you, how can you say: who touched me?”
So, faith tells us that Jesus knows and feels when we reach out to touch Him. And faith receives the impossible, because what is impossible for man is not impossible for God. Surely, God’s help is only a prayer away. We only need to act on that prayer. Jairus went down on his knees. The woman touched the clothes of Jesus.
Therefore, our reflection is: do we have faith in Jesus right now? How far and strong is our faith right now? What do we need to have a strong and deep faith like Jairus and the woman in this Sunday’s Gospel?
Fr. Aegidius Warsito SCJ