June is the month of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus
Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Gospel Mark 5:21-43 [or 5:21-24, 35b-43] (English Standard Version)
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great
crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by
name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, 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.” And
he went with him.
[And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge 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 will be made
well.” And
immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was
healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out
from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing
around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched
me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to
her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole
truth. And he said to
her, “Daughter, your faith has made you
well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”]
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?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 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. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Lyn was someone I met when she was about 15. Three years later, when she was only halfway through her four-year college course, she quit to marry Roberto. (I’m not using their real names). Lyn was madly in love with Roberto, who had a good job and came from a relatively wealthy family. Lyn’s family could not be described as poor either. I celebrated their wedding Mass and attended the reception in a classy hotel. In the Philippines traditionally it’s the groom’s father who pays for the reception. The young couple went to live in Manila, where Roberto was from. About a year later a daughter, whom I’ll call Gloria, was born. She had a learning disability. Another daughter, ‘Gabriela’, arrived a year or two later.
Then tragedy struck. Roberto discovered that his kidneys weren’t functioning properly and that he needed dialysis. Over the next couple of years Roberto and Lyn spent practically all they had on this and it ended in Roberto’s death. Meanwhile, Lyn’s parents both had serious illnesses and had to spend most of their resources on treatment.
Lyn returned to her own city with her two young daughters. She couldn’t find a job and had no qualifications since she hadn’t finished in college. With much embarrassment she came to see me and asked if I could give her a monthly ‘allowance’. She was able to survive the next few years with help from her siblings and friends and eventually remarried.
I’ve met so many ‘Lyns’ in the Philippines who are like the woman in today’s gospel, who have spent all their resources on doctors and medicine and are still sick. I’ve met families who have pawned their little bit of land in order to enable an aged parent to have surgery that ultimately leaves the whole family impoverished and the person on whom they had spent the money, out of a perhaps misplaced love, ending up in the cemetery.
Most Filipinos have little access to good health care. Even those who have government health insurance have to come up with ready cash if they go to hospital, unlike in Ireland or the United Kingdom. They are eventually reimbursed but have to pay interest on money they have borrowed in the meantime. (I don't know if that system has changed in any way since I left the Philippines in 2017). I’ve heard people in Ireland and in the UK complain about poor health services. Some complaints are indeed justified but my own family’s experiences during the last few years has shown me how outstanding medical and social services in Ireland are. I have also heard many unsolicited words of praise for nurses from the Philippines working in hospitals in the UK and Ireland.
But the sad reality is that most of these nurses, if they were still in the Philippines, would not have access to the kind of care they provide in Ireland and the UK. They would be like the woman in the gospel.
I met a Filipina in Reykjavík in 2000 who told me that she had had a kidney transplant in Denmark, paid for by the taxpayers of Iceland, a country of only 400,000 people or so. Had she been at home she would probably have ended up like Roberto.
Thirty-one years ago in a parish in Mindanao I buried Eileen, like the daughter of Jairus, a 12-year-old. Again, poverty was a significant factor in her illness and death, despite the efforts of the doctors and nurses in the small government hospital where she died.
So the two stories interwoven by St Mark are stories that many have lived or are living, and not only in the Philippines.
But sometimes persons do experience healing in unexpected ways. I once gave a recollection day to a group of 11- and 12-year old children in a Catholic school in Cebu City. We reflected on the story of Jesus staying behind in the Temple when he was 12 and that of the daughter of Jairus, also 12. Before the afternoon session a group of the boys and girls came to tell me that Maria, one of their classmates, had a bad toothache and asked if we could pray with her. Maybe Jesus would heal her as he had healed ‘Talitha’, which they thought was the name of the daughter of Jairus. We prayed with Maria – and her toothache disappeared. The children were delighted.
St Mark gives us illustrations of the humanity of Jesus more than do St Matthew and St Luke when they recount the same stories. Scholars tell us that St Mark’s was the first gospel to be written and that the other two drew on his in writing theirs. St Matthew omits the detail of Jesus perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him. This shows us that Jesus wasn’t a ‘magician’. When he healed a sick person he gave of himself.
St Matthew leaves out another beautiful detail about the humanity of our Saviour. Jesus says to the people in the house, Give her something to eat. I can imagine the joy of everyone, including Jesus. I picture him with a smile on his face, a smile that reflects his joy – and his awareness that the girl’s family had forgotten the very practical detail that she was starving, as is anyone who has come through a serious illness. This detail of St Mark brings home to me the great reality that St John expressed in his gospel and that we pray in the Angelus, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
Ecuador was the first country to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart. This hymn was written in the context of an increase in crime in the country. One can pray for one's own country while listening to the hymn, which has subtitles in English. The singers are siblings.
Traditional Latin Mass
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 06-30-2024 if necessary).
Epistle: Romans 6:3-11. Gospel: Mark 8:1-9.
