Search
Our Sunday Reflection - June 30, 2024
-
-
Lord, you have rescued me.
Psalm 30
-
-
-
Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day
“Do not be afraid,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel to Jairus, whose daughter is dying, “just have faith.” Difficult as it was for Jairus, it may seem to be even harder for us now. When we are in mourning for a loved one we’ve lost, or anxious about our health or that of someone close to us, or worried about the state of the world or our country, can we find faith strong enough to calm our fears? Gathered here today to give thanks and praise to God, may the words from Wisdom encourage us. God is good and imperishable and made us to be the same. Let us place our trust in God.Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
Wisdom reminds us that we are created in God’s image to share in God’s nature. However, because of sin, we have become mortal beings. But the Lord has rescued us, for Jesus has restored life and defeated death. His healings of Jairus’s daughter and the woman with hemorrhages show his power to do so. To paraphrase what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, by giving of himself, Jesus has graciously enriched us.Reflections
- How do we experience death in our lives? Obviously, we will experience it when we die, but we also encounter it when someone close to us dies, for a part of us dies as well. We die a little when we sustain a trauma or are dealt a setback we cannot overcome, especially if we lose heart or lose hope. We may feel dead when we do something we know is wrong, when we realize we’ve turned our back on God’s love. It is then that we need to hear Jesus’ words to Jairus: “Do not be afraid; just have faith” (Mark 5:36). Jesus has defeated death in all its forms and restored life, life that overcomes death. In any circumstance, may we recognize God’s healing love and mercy.
- Both Jairus and the woman with hemorrhages take a courageous step in to day’s Gospel. They both fall on their knees before Jesus, pleading for his healing touch. Each is just desperate enough to do so. Jairus’s daughter is near death. The woman has an untreatable illness. Jairus is a synagogue official, a public f igure, well-known enough to be mentioned by name, taking a risk that he might lose his position after publicly turning to Jesus. We know the woman does not want to make her request openly, but when Jesus asks, she acknowledges her actions, despite her fear and trembling. Jesus commends their faith, which they have courageously confessed, which has saved them.
- As he later did when Lazarus was already in the tomb, Jesus shows that death is not what those without faith think it is. Reminiscent of the naysayers in the story of Lazarus, the people who come out of the house report that the child is dead and that Jairus should leave Jesus alone. After all, death is final and absolute. There is nothing anyone can do. This, of course, is not how Jesus sees death. As Wisdom implies, God made humans and death incompatible. Jesus defeated death once and for all. Today we see that foreshadowed. Though both Lazarus and Jairus’s daughter eventually died, we trust that neither of them ever truly tasted death, for Jesus brought them life.
Question of the Week
How does my faith affect the way I anticipate death? How can it increase my courage? How can I encourage others to keep the faith?
-from Pastoral Patterns
-
readings of the mass
LISTEN HERE to the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, June 30, 2024
SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, June 30, 2024
-
Offerings
The Sunday offerings are a portion of our blessings that we give to God (Church) in gratitude to what God has done for us...ONLINE GIVING OPTIONS -
Reflections on the readings
-
-
-
-
News from the Vatican
-
3 hours ago“I see no desire on the part of the Vatican to seriously address the issue of women in church offices,” said Regina Franken, European chair of the Catholic Women’s Council, in remarks to KNA. -
3 hours agoParticipants in this month’s Synod of Bishops on Synodality have condemned what they said is an overly western agenda obsessed with “niche issues” that takes attention away from other important key... -
2 days agoOn the first day of the final session of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, the study group responsible for evaluating the female diaconate has said that it is a form of Holy Orders, and therefore...
-
-