13th Sunday Year B - Homily 3

Homily 3 - 2015

In telling his stories of these two women the way he did, Mark was clearly up to something. One had been afflicted by her haemorrhage for twelve years. The younger one at the point of death was twelve years old. To scripturally alert Jewish readers, twelve served to put them in mind of the twelve tribes of Israel, that is, of the people as a whole. The women were both called Daughter, one by Jesus, the other by her father, the synagogue official. Suffering Israel was traditionally referred to as Daughter of Israel. So, as well as being individuals persons, the two women were also complementary symbols of Israel as a whole. By situating the stories where they are in his Gospel, Mark also showed what he was effectively up to. Remember Jesus’ comment last week to the terrified disciples caught in the storm. Why were you frightened? Have you no faith? Faith was Mark’s concern.

So what was Mark’s message? Israel was suffering. The older woman’s constant bleeding meant that she was always ritually impure, and her ritual impurity was contagious. Consequently, she was marginalised, ostracized from society. Whole swathes of Israelite society were similarly marginalised, for a variety of reasons. The society was divided. There were those on the inside, those on the outside. At least the woman in the story did not bear her marginalisation without a struggle. Long ago, she had been prepared to spend all she had on ineffectual medical interventions. Now she went so far as to touch Jesus’ clothes in the hope that he would somehow help her. In her desperation, she was open to take the risk of making him ritually impure in the process. Jesus’ response to her was to say, Daughter, your faith has made you whole.

Along with those marginalised in Israelite society, there were those who did the marginalising – the religious elite, symbolised by the synagogue leader and his daughter. His daughter was dead. Those comprising the religious elite were dead; their future was dead. But even they were not beyond rescuing. Jesus’ message to the synagogue leader was, Only have faith! Only have faith, and dead Israel could become alive once more.

Earlier in his Gospel, Mark had shown Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent. And believe the Good news. We know that “repent” is a poor translation. What Jesus called for was a whole new way of looking at things, a whole new way of living. That new way of looking meant believing the good news that God is present; indeed, recognising that “the world is charged with the glory of God” [as the poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins put it] – and treating everything, everyone, respectfully. That is what Jesus was driving at when he said to the distraught father of the privileged but dead girl, Only have faith. and to the marginalised woman, Your faith has saved you. That was the faith he was talking about – the faith that sees everyone, everything, with the loving eyes of God.

Pope Francis has just released a new Encyclical Letter dealing with “the world charged with the glory of God”, and its consequences for us. He addresses the issue of global warming, but ranges much more widely than that. He looks at the world’s fragile ecology as it is being abused even now. He sees a close connection with ecological issues and issues of justice, particularly as they inevitably affect the poorest and most marginalised of society. He sees the issues already as urgent. Briefly, he sees the factors driving the destruction of the world’s ecology as consumerism and the unbridled search for profits – though his analysis is more inclusive than simply those two issues.

He believes that saving the world will involve nothing less than a radical and urgent conversion of heart on the part of all. We need indeed to cultivate a contemplative approach to creation and to ourselves. We are not accustomed to hearing such things. Are we ready to be challenged?