💖 HOMILY - JULY 8 💖

First Reading - Hosea 2:16,17-18,21-22 

Gospel - Matthew 9:18-26

Today’s Gospel is a beautiful presentation of two miracles, a healing and a revival-and-restoration-of-life. These miracles were worked by Jesus as reward for the trusting Faith of a synagogue ruler and of a woman with a hemorrhage. Though the ruler trusted Jesus out of desperation and the woman’s Faith may have been a bit superstitious, even their defective faith was amply rewarded.

The ruler of the synagogue supported Jewish orthodoxy, and he could have despised Jesus who befriended sinners. But he bravely approached Jesus as a last resort when all the doctors had failed, and his daughter was dying. Since the Jews believed that one was not actually dead until three days had passed, when word came that the child had died, the ruler showed courage and Faith in staying with Jesus, ignoring the ridicule of fellow-Jews. In the same way, the woman with the bleeding disease was ritually unclean, and she was not supposed to appear in public. She had the courage and Faith to ignore a social and religious taboo in order to approach and touch the garment of Jesus from behind. Both the ruler’s daughter and the sick woman were brought back to life and to the community.

Dear friends, Jesus accepts us as we are. Hence, we need not wait until we have the correct motive and strong Faith to bring our problems before Jesus. Let us bring our bodily and spiritual wounds to Jesus asking for the Lord’s healing touch.

We do our share in Christ’s healing mission by visiting the sick, praying for their healing, and boosting their morale through our loving presence, words of encouragement, and inspiration.