Daily Gospel Reflection for January 31, 2023

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

Reflection by Margaret Ann Stimatz

Today's Gospel: Mark 5:21-43

In today’s Gospel, two souls in desperate need of healing encounter Jesus. Each brings home to me a vital lesson: I, too, need to depend upon Him.

First there is the little girl on the verge of death. She can do nothing but lie in bed. It is her dad who approaches Jesus and begs Him to come to her side. The second character is the hemorrhaging woman. She’s come up empty year after year in her search for a remedy; at this time, her every hope has drained away. That is, until she sees the rabbi heading her way. Instantaneously, her night turns to day. In a flash, she is washed with conviction that, if only she can touch Him, healing will at last be hers.

Today my heart is aching with wounds that no human being (myself included) can reach or cure. Often, I can be bullheaded and imagine pridefully that I do not need God that much. But today as this Gospel light illumines me, I recognize the truth. I admit that I am as desperate as the little girl on the brink of death, or the sick woman bereft of every earthly option. As I meditate upon this Gospel, I implore my guardian angel to help me reach out and touch Jesus, for truly He is the only one who can heal me.

Ponder:

Where in my life am I at the end of my rope? At this moment, what stops me from asking Jesus to touch me?

Pray:

Dear guardian angel, please enlighten my mind that I may see any obstacle that prevents me from encountering Jesus. Strengthen me to overcome this obstacle, that I may turn to Him in my need.

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Often, I can be bullheaded and imagine pridefully that I do not need God that much. #DailyGospel

Copyright 2023 Margaret Ann Stimatz

Margaret Ann has contributed to Catholic Mom since 2018. Currently, she is working to publish her first book, Honey from the Rock: A Forty-Day Retreat for Troubled Eaters.