Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Last Sunday's readings and this week’s readings seem to be seamless. They seem to convey the same message even though they use opposing stories. In last week’s reading from Mark 5, we heard two stories of healing that were instigated by the faith of the people who were healed. The synagogue official’s faith saw Jesus raise his daughter to life and the woman with the hemorrhage was healed by merely touching Jesus’ clothes. At the end of the miracle Jesus commended her faith and said, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." (Mk 5:34) The story before these two stories in the same chapter is the story of a demoniac who was possessed by Legion (a multitude of evil spirits). Even these demons acknowledged Jesus’ power and identity. Then comes opposing stories that describe faithlessness. Mark gives us two examples of towns that express faithlessness. In Mark 5, after the healing of the demoniac, an entire people begged him to leave their district (Mk 5:17). Again, in today’s gospel reading, Jesus is unable to work any mighty deeds in his own home town (Mk 6:5). Through these contrasting stories, Mark seems to echo today’s first reading where the Israelites are described as “hard of face and obstinate of heart” (Ex 2:4). At the end of today’s gospel, Mark makes this very brief but significant statement. He says, “He [Jesus] was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mk 6:6). I think Mark is contrasting the faith of the people who were healed with the faithlessness of those who rejected faith in Jesus.

The most significant difference between the stories of faith and the stories of faithlessness that that the synagogue official, the demoniac and the woman with hemorrhage to abandon their life completely into the hands of this God. The synagogue official forgot his status, position, and power and “earnestly begged” Jesus to come and lay his hands on his daughter.

In the case of the woman with hemorrhage, when Jesus became aware of that power had gone out from him (Mk 5:29) and inquired who had touched him, the woman’s instinctive reaction is very revealing. She allowed herself to be totally disarmed. There were no pretentions, no pride, no self defence, no excuses and no justifications. She merely told Jesus the “whole truth” (Mk 5:33). These people were not “hard of face and obstinate of heart,” as today’s first reading suggests (Ex 2:4). That is why, in the account of the healing of the dead girl, Jesus put out of the room anyone who could not abandon themselves into Jesus’ hands.

For me, it is not uncommon for me to come before God with conditions. I want God but God should make no demands on me. I want God to forgive me but there are people I cannot forgive. I say I trust God but I still trust wealth, power, and my abilities more than God. I say I love God but I still have prejudices, anger and jealously. I am sometimes like the faithless people. I am hard of face and obstinate of heart. The people who were healed, on the other hand, teach me I must allow God to totally disarm me. Faith means that I allow God to disarm me and work on me as God wants – not as I want.

As I said earlier, Mark presents two groups of people in today gospel in the two chapter we have read in the last two weeks. One group approached Jesus, allowed him to disarm them, abandoned their life into his hands and acknowledged his awesome power. This is faith. The second group, hard of face and obstinate of heart expressed faithlessness and rejection. Even God’s hands are tied in the face of faithlessness and rejection.

As we approach the Eucharist this weekend, let us come to God with faith.

- Fr. Satish Joseph