King David was crying over his son in yesterday’s first reading for mass, because his son turned against him and was trying to kill him and take his kingdom away from him. Today’s first reading for mass is even more heartbreaking. What parent couldn’t sympathize with King David’s suffering? His son Absalom was killed in such a strange way, getting his hair caught in a tree and being stabbed to death while he hung there.
What is really heartbreaking is to hear King David’s reaction when the messenger arrived, letting him know that his enemies and all those who rebelled against him, had been defeated. Did you notice what the first words were that King David said when he heard the news? The king asked the Cushite, “Is young Absalom safe?” He wasn’t concerned about his kingdom, he was concerned about his son.
King David’s grief over his son is hard to read about. You can almost picture the king crying out and weeping over the death of his son. People say that losing a child is even harder than losing a spouse. But, have we ever thought about parents who lose a child due to crime, drugs or an accident that occurred while driving intoxicated? King David’s son died dishonorably, but his son’s death was not a reflection on him. The same would also be true for parents who had a son or daughter who committed murder. It doesn’t necessarily mean the parents were not honorable people either. It is doubly hard for Christian parents who lose a child under less than honorable conditions. They grieve their death, but also the manner in which they died. Many parents blame themselves for what happened to their adult children, but God gave all human beings free will and even He can not control their actions.
In the gospel today, the synagogue official fell at the feet of Jesus and begged him to come lay his hands on his daughter, who lay at the point of death, that she might live. This father left his dying child’s bedside, to pursue the one last hope he had that someone might be able to help her. In his grief, he turned to Jesus.
It’s really hard to think about the readings today, because King David was a very devout Jew who no doubt prayed to God for the return of his son, and yet, he still lost his son. In today’s gospel, the synagogue official’s daughter did not die though. Jesus healed her. These two examples show that we are not in control of things, God is. Sometimes God answers our prayers, and sometimes He does not. He does things according to His own will rather than ours.
It was Jesus’s will to heal the little twelve year old girl in today’s gospel though. It is a beautiful story. Everyone had given up hope, except for her father. He placed his hope in Christ and Jesus healed his daughter. The last sentence says that after Jesus healed the little girl, he told her parents to give her something to eat. It’s pure speculation, but the little girl might have been a diabetic and was in a diabetic coma. Christ did say the child was not dead, but asleep.
Thrown right in the middle of the gospel today, is a side note about a woman with a hemorrhage. It seems to be beside the point and has nothing to do with the little girl who was dying, and yet Saint Mark purposely wrote about it in the middle of the story about Jesus healing the little girl. Perhaps it has to do with the woman’s faith. Her faith was so great that she felt if she simply touched the Lord’s garment she would be healed, and she was. Jesus knew it the instant it happened, even though he was in the middle of a large crowd. This illustrates his divinity. Christ’s supernatural healing power came from his divinity, not from his human abilities. The woman with the hemorrhage touched the divine and was healed. She sought him out of faith, just like the synagogue official did with his daughter too. They had both come to believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God and sought him out to bring healing to them, and to their families.
Jesus Christ is the only one who can heal us, and heal our families. Bad things happen. We can not always control what happens to the members of our families. But, we can entrust our loved ones to Jesus. Jesus Christ is our hope both in this life, and in the life to come. If Jesus listened to the synagogue official’s pleas for his daughter, then he no doubt hears our pleas for our children and loved ones as well. His compassion knows no bounds. The woman with a hemorrhage did not receive a direct healing from Jesus Christ, but only through her close proximity to him. She heard about Jesus from afar. Others had told her about him and she came to believe, based on their testimony. Other people led her to Jesus, through their testimony about the Lord, and their faith in him.
Today, let us realize that we are not the one in control of our loved one’s lives. God is. We can seek Him out in prayer and live holy lives that reflect the Lord Jesus, pray for our family and friends, and raise our children in the Catholic faith, but we are not God. God’s ways are not our ways. We really can’t control His will for other people, or their own free will either. We can trust that the Lord is infinitely compassionate and merciful and loves us and our families though. He draws each person to himself, in his own good time and in his own unique way, that is different for each individual person.
Let us place our trust in The Lord. Whatever the outcome of the situations in our loved ones lives, Jesus accompanies us through it all.
Daily Mass Readings:
2 Sm 18: 9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30-19:3 / Ps 86: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 / Mk 5: 21-43
