The Power of Faith
10/28/2018
The Power of Faith
Fr. Al Demos, October 28, 2018
In today’s Gospel (Luke 8:41-56), Jairus, the ruler of the local Synagogue, comes to Jesus to beseech Him to heal his dying daughter. As Jesus walked towards Jairus’ home a woman of great faith approached the Lord, and without wanting to arouse attention she quite simply, quietly and humbly reached out and touched the hem of His garment. St. Luke tells us that this woman had a constant problem of blood issuing from her body for 12 years but upon touching the Lord’s garment she was instantaneously healed of her malady.
Jesus immediately realized that someone had touched Him for He felt a transfer of His grace leaving Him to enter into someone of faith. As the woman confesses that she had touched Jesus’ garment, she further explains how she had now been healed after 12 terrible years of dire suffering.
At that moment a man comes running from Jairus’ home to say that the girl had died. But Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” Entering the home He told those gathered there, “Stop crying, she is not dead but asleep”. Jesus went to the child’s bedside, taking her hand He said, “My child, get up!” And the child immediately arose.
Here, in the persons of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood, we see two people who have totally different problems who need two different types of healing…both, however, had come to Christ with confident faith that He had the power to perform miracles, and that they, in their desperate situations, boldly dared to hold that needed faith and hope that God would work a miracle in their lives.
We know that when we have gone down a dead end street, we have no other alternative than to turn around and go back where we came from. In life, some obstacles seem overbearing; but when we have faith in God, when we really, truly believe with all our heart and soul, God really does work in our lives…but in His good time and according to His Divine Will, not ours! Through devout faith in God, we learn to be patient in awaiting God’s action in our lives. However, we don’t sit idle and twiddle our thumbs, but we work towards that which we wish to accomplish.
And as God redirects us in leading us to enact His Divine Will, we continue to live and learn through our life experiences and in so doing become enriched in the ways we are guided and taught. Please remember, no matter what, God is in control! It is our duty to follow His lead by being open spiritually through our own personal devotion, prayer and generous acts of kindness. Then, in God’s good time, and the proper circumstances, we receive answers to our prayers… only those answers that eventually will bring spiritual enrichment to our lives… in spite of all the trials and tribulations we may also experience along the way.
Faith, in the face of tribulation, cultivates our entire being and brings us closer and closer to God!