Today’s readings reveal several people in desperate situations. In the first reading, we see David desperate and crying bitterly over the loss of his son, Absalom who had been killed by his own men. Even though Absalom had sought to dethrone and assassinate David, the father could not stop loving his son.
David’s loss is unrepairable. He could not bring his son back to life. His fatherly love for his son trumped the demand for justice.
In today’s gospel, we read about someone who can and did restore a man’s child to life. That someone is Jesus, whose Father loved us humans enough to send His Son to save us from desperate situations.
As Jesus moves around in His earthly ministry, He meets two people in desperate situations as recorded by Mark in this chapter: a man with a sick daughter who died, and a woman with an illness of her own.
Each of these people encounters Jesus with faith. The daughter was raised from the dead and the woman was healed. What do these stories say to us? (1) Our Father God loves us like David loved Absalom, no matter what we have done, (2) He sent Jesus to be aware of our individual needs, and deal with us accordingly; (3) we must recognize Jesus for who He is and trust Him for healing: spiritual and physical.
In this Eucharist Jesus continues to heal, restore, and nourish us by forgiving our sins, raising us up from whatever is holding us down, and nourishing us with His body and blood for eternal life with Him. He loves us just as we are. Let us turn to Him with strong faith and ask for Him to heal us, restore us, and nourish us as we receive His body and blood today.
