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Tuesday – Fourth Week – OT2
Readings: 2 Sam 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30 – 19:3; Mk 5:21-43.
1/ First Reading: RSV 2 Samuel 18:9 And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. 10 And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” 14 Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom, while he was still alive in the oak. 24 Now David was sitting between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone. 25 And the watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there are tidings in his mouth.” And he came apace, and drew near. 30 And the king said, “Turn aside, and stand here.” So he turned aside, and stood still. 31 And behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, “Good tidings for my lord the king! For the LORD has delivered you this day from the power of all who rose up against you.” 32 The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for evil, be like that young man.” 33 And the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 19:1 It was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2 So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people; for the people heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.” 3 And the people stole into the city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle.
2/ Gospel: RSV Mark 5:21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him; and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing him, he fell at his feet, 23 and besought him, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” 24 And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.” 29 And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd, and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, `Who touched me?'” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” 35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, he saw a tumult, and people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi”; which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and walked (she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.
I. THEME: The power of faith
People are very practical and realistic, in order for them to pay attention to or to do something, that thing must benefit them in some ways. Similarly in the area of faith, many people don’t pay attention to it because they think that faith doesn’t do anything for them. Today readings show people some important dimensions of faith; however, there are much more important dimensions than that, as someone correctly said: “People can’t live without faith.”
In the first reading, although king David has lost his third children and endured many sufferings through God’s providence, he still trusted in God and didn’t commit blasphemy against Him; because he knew all these sufferings were God’s punishments for his two serious sins. In the Gospel, St. Mark reported two miracles due to people’s faith in Jesus: First, a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years. She thought: “If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.” She approached Jesus from behind and touched his cloak, and immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Secondly, the daughter of Jairus, the head of a synagogue, was sick to the point of death. Jairus came to Jesus and begged him to come to his house to heal his daughter. Jesus came and made her alive.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: “Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
1.1/ Absalom was killed by Joab, David’s commander-in chief: Under human eyes, Absalom was a bat hieu and betrayed son. He committed murder when he killed Amnon, his half brother, because Amnon raped Tamar, his sister. He also committed incest when he had relations with his father’s concubines during the day and in front of many people. He committed betrayed because he devised a plan to kill his father and to take his throne. He was on the way to chase after David’s armies and was caught by a tree, and hung up between that tree and the ground.
When a David’s soldier saw him, he ran to Joab, David’s commander-in chief. Joab took three darts in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom, while he was still alive in the oak. Joab thought he did for king David a big favor because Absalom shall no longer cause any more trouble for him. He sent his soldier to announce the good news for David and thought David shall be joyful to hear it.
1.2/ King David wept for Absalom, his son: There was only two persons who knew the reason of all troubles caused by Absalom were David and the prophet Nathan. King David knew the reason of Absalom’s death is his sins. Therefore, when he heard the news of Absalom’s death; instead of being joyful as Joab and soldiers thought, he was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. As he went, he cried out, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
So, the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people; for the people heard: “The king is grieving for his son.”
This is the third son king David has lost due to his sins: the first is Bathsheba’s son; the second is Amnon; and the third is Absalom. Though David was severely punished by God, he didn’t complain any word against him; for he thought he was deserved all these sufferings. He wanted to die in the place of his sons because he was the one that committed sins; but God has a plan and David must obey it. If David didn’t have a strong faith in God, how could he overcome these sufferings and still believe in God?
2/ Gospel: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
2.1/ The ruler of a synagogue asked Jesus to come to his house and to heal his daughter: The title, “the ruler of a synagogue,” told his authority and honor. Through many conflicts between Jesus and the Jews, he can be the person that avoids or has confliction with Jesus. In opposition, according to today’s report, he fell at his feet, and besought him, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” When Jesus saw his sincere expression of faith, he agreed to go to his house, and a great crowd followed him.
2.2/ Faith can heal a terminate disease: When Jesus was on his way to Jairus’ house, an other miracle was happened. “There was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.”” She did so, and immediately her hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
There were only two persons who knew what have happened are Jesus and the woman. Jesus’ disciples couldn’t understand why Jesus said, “Who touched me?” They said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say that?” Jesus knew what he was doing, and he looked around to see who had done it. At that moment, the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.”
2.3/ Faith helped Jairus daughter to live again: While Jesus was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” Ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
There are at least three times in the Gospel, the evangelists reported Jesus resurrected the death: in today report; the son of the widow in Nain (Lk 7:11), and Lazarus (Jn 11). People who witnessed these miracles were in great amazement; because they never saw anything like them before. In Lazarus’ resurrection, Jesus emphasized the necessary of faith to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (Jn 11:25-26).
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– Faith helps us to be faithful to God in this life on earth. Without the faith, we can easily fall to desperation when we face great sufferings of our life.
– Sins cause many terrible results for individual, family and society. We should learn what happened to David, his family and the nation, to resist sins and to avoid temptations.
– Faith helps us to live. If we have a strong faith in God, nothing in this life can prevent us to come to God. Death is just temporal; once we overcome that, we shall live with forever.