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July 1, 2018
A Story Within a Story
In the gospel this weekend, we have an example of what biblical scholars call a “Markan Sandwich”-- a literary technique that’s unique to the way Mark writes his gospel. At times, Mark will insert a story within a story.
What scholars discover is that the stories have something in common and will tell us something important about Jesus’ ministry, which we can apply in our own lives.
In today’s gospel, Mark first begins with the story of Jarius’ daughter who has become very sick. We’ll discover the girl is 12 years old. After he introduces the passage, Mark inserts a second passage about a woman who has been suffering from an illness the doctors can’t diagnose or cure. We’ll discover she’s been suffering with this for 12 years—the same amount of time the little girl who was sick had been alive. When the woman comes to Jesus, he’s surrounded by people, but all she wanted to do was touch him. And when she did, she was healed.
Mark then concludes the first story by returning to the events surrounding the 12-year-old girl. We discover she died before Jesus got to her. But Jesus didn’t let that be the end. He went beyond healing. He raised her up from death into life.
The two passages are examples of the great hope that people have in Jesus. They reach out to him because in him they find healing, hope, mercy, love, life and dignity. Both the girl and the woman received a new beginning after the same 12 years. They were free to live again.
We find our own story within these two powerful events. Our faith in Jesus isn’t just a faith for the moment or for when we desperately need it. Faith is a lifetime of ups and downs knowing that Jesus is walking with us all along the way, which is why the Eucharist becomes so important to us as Catholics. And it’s also why Reconciliation and the Anointing are sacraments of healing.
Jesus finds ways to free us to live again when we need him. We reach out to him in prayer and in the sacraments that we open our heart to receive. It’s what allows us to experience the ordinary miracles of Jesus’ touch in our lives.
Odds & Ends- Thank You for Helping! A heartfelt thanks to all those who were able to contribute the past two weeks to our special second collection to help us offset the cost of a new heating/cooling unit we needed to replace last winter. We collected $5,900. Thank you for your generosity!
- July 4th Mass is at 9 am. What a great way to begin a holiday—begin the day with the holy. Join us for Mass as we give God thanks for the blessings we have in life, especially the ability to practice our faith freely and openly with one another.
- New CDs Available. If you’re looking for some spiritual nourishment or for some insight into helping with life struggles, check out the new CDs available in the narthex. These are some excellent resources by some of today’s best Catholic speakers and thinkers.
--Fr. Mike