Have A Little Faith in We

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:
“He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.” Mark 5:34✝️ When we come to Jesus, bring him all our sin, messy stuff, burdens and lost causes- this act of faith will bring the peace we need.

“So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” Mark 6:6 ✝️ Jesus was not a magician that just fixed every struggle the people were facing, rather he entered into relationship with them through faith to bring help.

I have been fascinated how the last two weeks of gospel bring what appears to be opposing examples of Jesus interactions with people, and yet together they both tell the story of faith. We are called to enter into relationship with Jesus and sometimes this looks like him providing the healing we desperately need and sometimes it looks like Jesus walking in the messy with us. What we have to know is neither one indicates a stronger faith, but both do tell our Lord how much we are willing to rely on him.

The women who was healed went through 12 years before finding relief. She had to try a lot of avenues, she had to lose a lot, she had to be vulnerable – her healing that was a few lines in the Bible, was already a lifetime lived with incredible challenge. Yet, when she was at her point of giving up, she left a small enough space for faith to plant a seed. The seed that would require her to take action, to remain vulnerable, and to have her story on display for many. That is when the power of Jesus was stronger than her own ability, then the ability of the world and she was healed. We all desire healing. In fact often when folks think of prayer that is how it is viewed: a session for requests to help or fix. And this reminds us that the journey may be very long to get to healing.

Then we have the other gospel: Jesus visits his hometown and finds a serious lack of faith. Jesus is all powerful, he does not require our human spirit to make a way for his glorious power. However, if we don’t believe then he won’t enter into the space for healing. These folks were just like the rest of us: struggling with something. However, the struggle was not something they were willing to share. Was it a lack of faith or larger presence of pride? These stories were not given specifics, these folks were not given identities – we don’t really know. What we do know is Jesus’ amazement, leading us to conclude he had what they needed, but he was not being requested.

Faith journeys are likely more often stories such as this – our humanity gets in the way of letting Jesus in. If the realities of this world do not look like we expect, it can result in a lack of faith. One story has healing and one does not. And yet both are summed up in the truth all of us need to hear- from the women healed, to the town lacking faith, to you and I – ““My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” A quote directly from last Sunday’s second reading: God is perfect when matched with our human fragility. Do not let the solution you seek exclusively be the only thing that determines God’s goodness and if you have faith. Let him into the weakness and watch his power be made perfect.

Thank you so much for reading and remember to make it a great day!
Jackie