A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1878

[324] Heb 12:1-4 Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 Mark 5:21-43

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

I think that one of the greatest tragedies in the modern world is that we have lost the joy in living.  We have become so goal oriented that we fail to see the joy in everything we do.  One of the biggest problems that I run into in college is that people are so focused on school and answering the question, “What am I going to do with my life,” that they forget to have fun.  When was the last time you did something without a worry or care on your mind?  For many people, it has been a very, very long time because they are constantly preoccupied about something.  For the woman in today’s Gospel, it had been twelve years.

The woman in the Gospel didn’t have a reason to live.  She was probably terminally ill and had accepted that the end was near.  But then she saw a flicker of hope and she trusted in it.  She heard of Jesus, who was nearby, and how he had healed the sick and lame and made the blind see and the deaf hear.  And she had faith.  What a contrast there is between this woman and those in Jairus’s household.  Jairus’s daughter passed away and they tell Jesus that he will not be able to do anything now.  If only they had the faith of the woman!  Jesus’s words are important for each one of us to hear.  “Do not be afraid.  Just have faith.”

Christ offers us life.  Christ offers us meaning and purpose to all we do.  He calls us each to holiness just as he called millions before us.  When we accept his invitation, we find true joy in simply living.  The modern world has lost sight of what it means to live.  We are told that there is a certain way to live, that we need to be secure in ourselves, our possessions, and our livelihood.  The world teaches us to look out for ourselves.  But none of that satisfies.  We have become so focused on this earthly way of living that we have forgotten what it means to be intimate with one another.  Words like love, friendship, marriage, and relationship have such a shallow connotation today because we have lost sight of intimacy.  Many Catholics and Christians alike would not describe their relationship with the Lord as being intimate, yet if it is not intimate, then all is lost.  If we cannot be intimate with Christ and share our deepest thoughts and desires with him, then who can we be intimate with?  This is what the woman in the Gospel teaches us today.  It’s okay to be vulnerable with Jesus, to let him see us in our weaknesses.  Only then can he make us whole.  Only then will we discover the true joy in living every day.