GOSPEL, Matthew (9: 18-26)
Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew
A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed
18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread throughout that district.
The Gospel of the Lord
REFLECTION
The person, works and message of Jesus appears to us today in (Mt 9:18-26), the narration of two miracles of Jesus. The healing of haemorrhagic and the resurrection of the daughter of a synagogue leader. Miracles are Jesus’ divine reaction to acts of faith, after having performed the miracles, Jesus replies, “Your faith has saved you”. The divine power of Christ performed the miracles, but the faith of the recipients of His favour is the indispensable condition, for activating that power.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reflects God’s paternal love for his creation, symbolized in the woman’s physical pain and Jairus’ anguish for the loss of his daughter.
The early Christian community sees in these and other miracles an anticipation of Christ’s personal triumph over death. For the believer in Christ, death is neither an absurdity nor the end of nothingness, but a sleep whose awakening is the resurrection “of those who fall asleep in the Lord.”
The action of Jesus is aimed, therefore, to announce and inaugurate life par excellence, the inextinguishable life.
Christ wants us today to witness his resurrection in the world of men, performing signs of deliverance, by loving others, because to love, is to have and give the life that resurrects. For this reason, the love of God and of our brothers and sisters is the summary of the gospel and the sign of authenticity for all Christians.
In the kingdom of God,
“4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4). Jesus’ miracles are signs of the kingdom, which has already begun, but which has not yet revealed itself in all its fullness.
PRAYER
Today our heart praises you, Father, because Jesus, anticipating his own resurrection,
Brought the dead back to life, like Jairus’ girl. Make us witnesses with Christ today of that love that makes the Kingdom present and rejuvenates hearts. Amen.