Pope Leone speaks of “cowardly attack” by remembering the massacre against the Greek-Orthodox community in the church of Mar Elias in Damascus. “I’m close to you! The whole Church is close to you! “, Of the Christians of the Middle East, while explaining that” this tragic event recalls the profound fragility that Syria still marks, after years of conflicts and instability. It is therefore essential that the international community does not look away from this country, but continue to offer him support through gestures of solidarity and with a renewed commitment to peace and reconciliation “. It also underlines the attention and hope for “the developments of the situation in Iran, Israel and Palestine. The words of the prophet Isaiah resonate more urgent than ever: “A nation will no longer raise the sword against another nation, they will no longer learn the art of war”. You listen to this voice, which comes from the very high! The lacerations caused by the bloody actions of the last few days are curse. Any logic of arrogance and revenge is rejected and the path of dialogue, diplomacy and peace is chosen with determination ».
Before he had asked to meditate, in the cycle on the figure of Jesus our hope, on the healing of the emeorissa woman. Here is the full text of the catechesis:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Even today we meditate on the healing of Jesus as a sign of hope. In him there is a force that we too can experience when we enter into relationship with his person.
A disease very widespread in our time is the effort of living: reality seems too complex, heavy, difficult to deal with. And then we turn off, we fall asleep, in the illusion that when awakening things will be different. But reality must be faced, and together with Jesus we can do it well. Sometimes then we feel blocked by the judgment of those who claim to put labels on others.
It seems to me that these situations can be reflected in a passage from the Gospel of Marco, where two stories are intertwined: that of a twelve -year -old girl, who is sick in bed and is about to die; And that of a woman, who for twelve years, has has blood losses and is looking for Jesus in order to heal (cf. Mk 5,21-43).
Between these two female figures, the evangelist places the girl’s father’s character: he does not remain at home to complain about his daughter’s illness, but comes out and asks for help. Although it is the head of the synagogue, there is no claims due to its social position. When there is waiting it does not lose patience and wait. And when they come to tell him that his daughter died and it is useless to disturb the teacher, he continues to have faith and hope.
The interview of this Father with Jesus is interrupted by the hemorrhisma woman, who manages to approach Jesus and touch his cloak (v. 27). This woman with great courage made the decision that changes her life: everyone continued to tell her to stay remotely, not to be seen. They had condemned her to remain hidden and isolated. Sometimes we too can be victims of the judgment of others, who claim to put a dress on us that is not ours. And then we are sick and we can’t get out of it.
That woman takes the path of salvation when the faith that Jesus can heal her sprouts in her: then she finds the strength to go out and go looking for him. He wants to reach at least his guise.
Around Jesus there was so much crowd, and therefore many people touched him, yet nothing happens to them. When this woman touches Jesus, she is healed. Where is the difference? Commenting on this point of the text, Sant’Agostino says – in the name of Jesus -: “The crowd is crowded around me, but the faith touches me” (Speech 243, 2, 2). This is the case: every time we make an act of faith addressed to Jesus, a contact with him is established and his grace immediately comes out of him. Sometimes we do not realize it, but in secret and really grace reaches us and slowly transforms life.
Perhaps even today many people approach Jesus superficially, without truly believing in his power. We trample the surface of our churches, but perhaps the heart is elsewhere! This silent and anonymous woman wins her fears, touching the heart of Jesus with her hands considered impure because of the disease. And here he immediately feels healed. Jesus says to her: «Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go to peace “(Mk 5:34).
In the meantime, they bring to that father the news that his daughter died. Jesus says to him: “Don’t fear, just have faith!” (v. 36). Then he goes to his house and, seeing that everyone cries and shouting, says: “The girl is not dead, but sleeps” (v. 39). Then he enters the room where he lay the girl, he takes her by the hand and says: “Torità Kum”, “girl, get up!”. The girl stands up and starts walking (cf. vv. 41-42). That gesture of Jesus shows us that he not only heals from every disease, but also awakens from death. For God, who is eternal life, the death of the body is like a sleep. The true death is that of the soul: we must be afraid of this!
One last detail: Jesus, after raising the girl, tells parents to feed her (see v. 43). Here is another very concrete sign of the closeness of Jesus to our humanity. But we can also understand it in a deeper sense and ask ourselves: when our boys are in crisis and need a spiritual nourishment, do we know how to give it to him? And how can we ourselves do not feed on the Gospel?
Dear brothers and sisters, in life there are moments of disappointment and discouragement, and there is also the experience of death. We learn from that woman, from that father: let’s go to Jesus: he can heal us, he can make us reborn. Jesus is our hope!
