Glory of God Prayer Group, St. Cecilia Parish, Wa Diocese, Ghana - Let Your Light Shine

Saint of the Day

You can't get a cup of tea big enou…

You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.   C. S. Lewis

All things unholy

I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone. Francis of Assisi

Our walking is our preaching

It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. Francis of Assisi

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again. Saint Augustine

The unexamined life

The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates

Beauty is the bait

Beauty is the bait which with delight allures man to enlarge his kind. Socrates

The real problem

The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not. C. S. Lewis

A simple smile

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do. Mother Teresa

Even the rich are hungry for love

Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own. Mother Teresa

Judging disputes

If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don't accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend. Saint Augustine

Man cannot diminish God's glory

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. C. S. Lewis

Perfect moderation

To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. Saint Augustine

Importance of Christianity

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C. S. Lewis

Selective faith

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. Saint Augustine

People of worth

Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live. Socrates

The souls of the righteous are immortal …

All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine. Socrates

Seek to love, not to be loved

Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love. Francis of Assisi

The richest

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature. Socrates

In season at all times

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand. Mother Teresa

God dispenses beauty even to the wicked

Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked. Saint Augustine

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr B. June 30, 2024

Readings
1st: Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24
2nd: II Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15
Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

Theme: Don't Bemoan The Size Of Your Problem, Believe In The Power Of Your God

My dear people of God, today is Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr B. Our reflections would focus on the theme - That a Christian does not fret and talk/complain about how big a problem is, but how BIGGER a God he/she has. Both our First Reading and the Gospel of today point to the tragedy of death. Per the Jewish estimation, the sick girl in our gospel was just at the point of crossing into full womanhood - 12 years and a day, as prescribed by law. That was the basis of the growing anxiety and distress of the Synagogue official called Jairus. Matthew and Luke refer to him as ruler. As ruler of the Synagogue, Jairus was a person of considerable importance. His position gave him the right as administrative head in charge of the good management of the Synagogue. The ruler allocated duties and superintended the conduct of the temple service/worship. Such a vivid picture of a ruler of the Synagogue at the time of Jesus' public ministry tells you the amount of power Jairus held and excersied, and the respect and reverence he was accorded. He was a pillar of Jewish orthodoxy, one of those who despised and hated Jesus and, in fact, wished Him eliminated. However, in the stirring face of death, something amazing happened. Apparently, he came to Jesus after everything else had failed. No doubt, he had tried every kind of doctor and every kind of cure and only came to Jesus as a last resort. At this critical moment of sheer desperation, Jairus threw off his prejudices, forgot of his dignity, compromised the artificial pride of a ruler of his calibre and, perhaps, abandoned his friends, if he had any at all. A prejudiced mind shuts out a man from many blessings. Pride makes a man too big even for God to accommodate. There comes a time in life when a man has to forget about his dignity in order to save his life and soul. That was precisely what Jairus did when a tragedy (of death) was looming. Humility is not humiliation.

From the Jewish point of view the woman we meet in our today's Gospel could not have suffered a worse humiliating disease than the issue of abnormal discharge (bleeding) beyond the time/period of her impurity (mensuration). The horror was that it rendered the sufferer unclean. By law, the victim was shut off from the worship of God and from appearing and/or mixing up with people in public. By implication, she was not even supposed to be in the crowd surrounding Jesus. If by any chance the crowd had known, her fate would have been one of public embarrassment. There is little wonder that she was desperately eager to try anything which might rescue her not only from the stigma of the disease but also from a life of prolonged isolation. Our theme takes its inspiration from that daring move of the woman, "Don't bemoan the size of your problem, believe in the power of your God". Just by touching the hem (maybe the tassel) of Jesus' garment her "problem" was put to flight, never to return. Praise the Lord! We are told, time and again, on this platform that, "Faith is the ONLY KEY that opens and moves the Heart and Hand of God without any struggle." When she defied the pressure of a confused crowd and forced her way to touch the tassel of the robe of Jesus (long dress like an alb or cassock, like the type your priests wear), it was as if time stood still. All at once amidst the milling crowd Jesus stopped abruptly and for a moment it was as if nothing existed and nothing mattered apart from the woman and her problem. For Jesus, the labelled and isolated woman (for no fault of hers) was not simply a poor woman lost in the crowd; indeed, she was someone to whom Jesus was prepared to give the whole of Himself.

What Christian lesson can you and I pick from Jesus' interaction with a projected public figure (Jairus) and a laballed, despised and isolated figure? It is still the case that society gives selective justice to different people based on how the individual is "graded". In the mind of Jesus everyone matters. It is worrying that in some churches even seating is done according to who matters more. Note, that Jesus gave the same attention to both the Synagogue official and a woman who, by law, was not supposed to appear in public. In the eyes of God your past or current state cannot be a verdict on your future. What is thought and said of you cannot be final for God. Therefore don't magnify your problem, magnify your God. As you participate at the Table of Grace today, may the Lord give you a live story to tell the world. Yes, that problem may appear big but your God is BIGGER. Continue to pray the Holy Rosary daily. God richly bless you and your family.

Rev. Fr. Thomas L. Debuo - Catholic Diocese of Damongo, Ghana. (0244511306/0243711926)

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