The gospel for Tuesday of the fourth week in Ordinary Time is taken from Mark 5th, chapter 21st to the 43rd verse. When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, my daughter is at the point of death. Please come, lay your hands on her that she may get well and live. He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages. For 12 years she had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped, but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, if I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured. Immediately.

Her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, who has touched my clothes? But his disciples said to him, you see how the crowd is pressing upon you, yet you ask, who touched me? He looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling.

She fell down before Jesus told him the whole truth. He said to her, daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction. While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, you, daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher any longer? Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, do not be afraid.

Just have faith. He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep. And they ridiculed him.

Then he put them all out. He took along the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, talitha ka um, which means little girl, I say to you, arise. The girl, a child of 12, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

In Mark’s Gospel, when it comes to the miracles, of Jesus, particularly his power to heal from evil, from disease, from even death. We consistently see these things called signs. That’s what Mark calls them. Signs of not only who Jesus is, but most importantly, a sign of who we are to become. We are to become healers. And just as people doubt the power of God to heal us, we doubt our power to heal one another.

And that’s the essence of what it means to be a follower of Christ, to be filled with divinity. It’s not ourselves that heals. It’s God healing through us. SA Satan Satan SA Foreign Closing Prayer Father, you’ve entrusted a great gift to us, a sign that you are truly present within our lives. Keep us connected to this great gift, we tend to forget it. We tend to lose sight of who we really are in you.

And when we see it, we are in awe of your generosity to share such a wonderful gift with us so we can share it with those that we love. And we ask this in Jesus name, amen.