Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24
2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15
Mk 5:21-43 or 5:21-24, 35b-43

Why suffering?

The first reading explains that God desires life for us, not death. The second reading tells us that God desires abundance for all of his children. Today’s Gospel reports two stories of healing. One story tells us about a father’s great love for his dying daughter. The other story tells us about a desperate woman who risks much as she seeks healing from Jesus. In each story, the request for healing is itself a courageous act of faith.

The healing of the woman with a hemorrhage is one of my favorite stories in the gospels. Because of her hemorrhage she was considered ritually unclean. Just think of the risk she took to be out in public, in a crowd of people where touching someone else would cause that person to become unclean. Just think of the audacity to intentionally get close enough to Jesus to touch his clothing. If she had been recognized in this process she actually could have faced death at the hands of the religious authorities. This woman acted with great faith and courage!

What is very unusual about this healing is that it takes places completely on the woman’s initiative. She  heard reports about Jesus and decides it’s worth the risk to get close enough to touch his garment.  Given her unclean condition, her touch would have transferred her impurity to Jesus. Her action would thus be doubly audacious, a violation of social codes for proper female behavior since a woman never touched any male in public and a violation of religious law because of her uncleanness. Jesus takes no active part whatsoever in her healing, confirming the truth of this later in a statement that it was her faith that made her well. Only after the woman’s body experiences healing does Jesus end his passive role in the story, perceiving that something in his body has changed as well.  

We try to understand what is going on in this reading and in our lives as well. Why pain and suffering? Why does this woman suffer and Jairus’ little girl have to die? Pain and suffering continue as part of everyone’s life. We all know this. We neither like it nor fully understand it, especially when it happens to the innocent and the good. 

There is a lesson here for us. The woman and Jairus came to Jesus because they believed Jesus could heal. They had faith that their needs would be met. We have to be like the woman and Jairus. Whatever our needs are, we bring them to Jesus. We will never have the same kind of healing that takes place in our gospel reading but we can have spiritual and interior healing when we ask for help. The results may not be what we really want but just having deep faith in a loving God changes us, even if the situation does not change. Because of our faith in our God, we are better able to deal with pain and suffering. Hopefully, we will be stronger people when we turn our pain and suffering over to God and continue to live our lives to the best of our ability.

What helps you to deal with pain or suffering in your life?

In what ways can your relationship with God help you in the hard times in your life?