13th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B, By Rev. Fr. Lucas Binnah Junior

1st Reading: Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24/Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 30:2.4.5-6.11-12a.13b (R. 1) 2nd Reading: IICorinthians 8:7.9.13-15/Gospel Acclamation: II Tim.1:10/Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

Theme: Life-Givers

In his original plan, God created us for life not death! God gives life. He gives us life and expects us to be life-givers to one another. The author of the book of Wisdom highlights this point with a strong conviction, and therefore, in the first reading, he says pointedly: “God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things that they might exist … For God created man for incorruption, and made him in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his party experience it” (Wis. 1:13, 2:24). In thanksgiving to God for making him part of the living, the Psalmist sings a song of praise saying: “I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me” (Ps. 30:2a). The call to life-giving and generosity will guide our liturgical reflection today.

Sharing is caring and indeed, we are called to true, lasting and cheerful giving and the second reading aptly hints at this. The church at Corinth is admonished not only to grow in knowledge, utterance, faith, love of God and earnestness but to excel in the practice of almsgiving (cf. II Cor. 8:7). In this text, St. Paul teaches us that when we give, we must first imitate Jesus’ self-donation and give ourselves to the benefit of others. Particularly, he says of Jesus Christ: “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty, you might become rich” (II Cor. 8:9). The idea of helping others for their own sake and not for our own selfish interests is an underlying principle in Christian charity, and this should colour the art, act and virtue of giving.

Furthermore, St. Paul wants us to use our abundance to supply the needs of others as a means of maintaining equality in the community. In some homes, food, foodstuffs and water are wasted. Unused clothes, shoes and other domestic items are kept for months and years when there are less[1]privileged people in orphanages and in society who cannot even boast of one square-meal a day. When we learn to part with things we no longer need, especially by giving them out to those who need them, we are able to inject life into them. Such interventions help some people to recover from near-death experiences. When we give, we reflect the character of the living God who is so generous such that he gives life to all creation. The Gospel Acclamation harps on this when St. Paul tells Timothy “Our saviour Jesus Christ abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (II Tim. 1:10). If all of us will understand the principle of authentic giving, take it to heart and put it into practice, the rate of crime, stealing, kidnapping, armed-robbery, etc, which are most of the time caused by greed, poverty, unemployment, youth restiveness and the wide gap between the rich and the poor will reduce to the bearest minimum.

So, how can we practice the art and act of generosity? In the Gospel, we see how Jesus spends himself up in order to restore life to the needy. First and foremost, Jesus is available to those who need him. He spends time with them and gives them attention. He gives them audience and presence. He makes personal contact with them. He shows so much care and concern in a bid to understand them from their own points of view. He moves from sympathy to empathy. He listens to their stories, for each one’s case is dear to him. The life condition of each person really touches Jesus, and that may explain why even in the midst of closely-knitted crowds of people, he could still feel the touch of a distressed woman with haemorrhagic illness that had plagued her life for twelve years. The compassion, consolation and affection of Jesus is so dramatic. Listen to what he says to the woman: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mk. 5:34). Again, to Jairus, he says: “Do not fear, just believe” (Mk. 5:36). Consequently, Jesus restores the life of Jairus’ daughter who is at the point of death, and who eventually succumbs to death. Apparently, she is just twelve years of age, a time considered by Jews as the attainment of womanhood, the ripe age of marriage, the prime and pride of every young woman and every family. When everything is shattered and joy snuffed out by her death, Jesus comes into the scene to restore life, such that the ambience of cacophony of wails of woes turns into shouts of joy. When everybody looks the way of death, fear, impossibility, negativity and despondency, Jesus sees and actually brings life, hope, courage, possibility and positivity.

Beloved in Christ, there are some lessons to draw from Jairus and the woman of blood-flow. In both cases, we see the role that strong faith and hope can play in our relationship with God. The faith and hope of Jairus leads him to forget about his dignity and pride as well as his prejudices against Jesus. He even ignores those people from his household who tell him not to worry Jesus because his daughter is already dead (cf. Mk. 5:35). He never gives up; his faith propels him to persevere. As the ruler of the synagogue, that is, the administrative head who controls what goes on in the synagogue, he is certainly one of the most important persons in the town. Yet, he takes the path of humility when he literally throws himself at the feet of Jesus inspired by faith in the power of Jesus and hope that he is able to restore his daughter. Again, faith leads the bleeding woman to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. She believes, and her faith elicits desired results.

Again, we also see the role of prayer and intercession in receiving restoration and breakthrough. It can be through our personal efforts at constant prayer and the intercession of family members, friends, loved ones, the church, society and nation as a whole. Jairus intercedes for his daughter, and his daughter is raised from death to life. We cannot underestimate the power of prayer and intercession borne out of deep faith. When we pray faithfully, and stand in the gap for others, God listens to our prayers and gives us appropriate answers. We must never give up praying!

Dearly beloved, we serve a God who feels our pain, understands our problems and is ever ready to give us life. He wants us to be happy. He also wants us to imitate him by being life-givers. As we benefit from him, others should also benefit from us. As we seek his blessings and answers, we should also be blessings and answers to others’ prayers. Let us create enabling environments where as individuals, churches and institutions, we can make some adequate social interventions which can give succour to the poor and needy. The church must be at the service of the world. Governments must secure and safeguard the lives of citizens through social safety nets which can shore up the underprivileged poor and give them a source of livelihood. Nobody is too poor to give; nothing is too little or too much! Generosity is a matter of attitude not magnitude! It is about who we are and not so much of what we have! Happy Sunday! Remember, we are: #Life-Givers#

By Rev. Fr. Lucas Binnah Junior

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