Daily Gospel Reflection for February 3, 2015

Today's Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

Optional Memorial of Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr

Optional Memorial of Saint Ansgar, Bishop

In this Gospel, Jesus demonstrates His divinity by performing two miracles: healing the woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years and raising the daughter of Jairus from the dead.

In both miracles, we see the profound humility and absolute faith of the hemorrhaging woman and Jairus. Only in humility can they (and we) heed the words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”

The woman with hemorrhages was seen as unclean, not just physically, but also in spirit, and everything she touched also became unclean. Although she knew she was unworthy, she reached out to Jesus in faith. In healing her physical affliction, Jesus also healed her spiritually. The woman needed to have contact with Jesus in a gesture of humility in order to be healed.

St. Ambrose tells us that just like her, we need to reach out to Jesus. We do this when we spend time with Him before the Blessed Sacrament and when we receive Him in the Holy Eucharist, unworthy though we are.

Even though the crowd that was gathered at the home of Jairus told him to stop bothering Jesus because his daughter was dead, Jairus persevered in faith because he was confident that Jesus is Lord. He was not afraid of the crowd’s ridicule.

Ponder:

Jesus tells the crowd, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” Even though He gives us this admonition many times in the gospels, we see that only those who are humble can heed his words.

Pray:

Dear Lord, I am afraid, and I lack faith. Please make me humble so that I may have the confidence of Jairus and be healed like the hemorrhaging woman.

We thank our friends at The Word Among Us for providing our gospel reflection team with copies of Abide In My Word 2015: Mass Readings at Your Fingertips. To pray the daily gospels with this wonderful resource, visit The Word Among Us.

Copyright 2015 Terry McDermott