January 31, 2012

How Strong Is My Trust In God?

Today's gospel recounts one miracle in process and a second happening while in the process.  Jesus is asked by Jairus to help his daughter, presumed to have died.  While on the journey to Jairus' home, Jesus is the cause of a second healing, the woman with unending menstrual bleeding.  In the first instance, the young girl is brought to life because her father had such strong faith in the power of Jesus.  In the second, the elderly woman was so convinced this young preacher could heal her simply if she could just touch the hem of his garment.  She believe healing powers could come even from the clothes Jesus wore.

We know that both efforts to gain the benefits of Jesus' care and healing power were successful.  What do we think about those events?  Are we at all stunned or in amazement at what Jesus could do or do we just take these stories as events we have heard repeated many times?  Familiarity with so much of Jesus' life and his actions does diminish the impact they have upon us today.  Yet today, it seems, we have even greater needs of God's healing in so many different ways in our personal lives as well as the communal lives we share.

Trusting in God:  how real is this reality in my day-to-day living?  In a society where the presence of God seems to be less and less each time we think about our God, we can ask ourselves what it is that I might be doing to strengthen my own trust in God ... in just the ordinary events or needs of living.

Do I truly trust in God?  Could I write in one or two sentences precisely what my trusting in God means?  Give it a try!