Healing is a communication tool used by Jesus to elaborate on His authority. Without it, Jesus would never fulfill His mission to heal the world. In today’s gospel, Jesus did two healing processes: one was indirect, and the other was direct. An indirect process happens when a woman who has been bleeding for almost 12 years touches the clothes of Jesus. Instantly, the healing process happened, but Jesus was bothered and asked the crowd who touched him. Then, Jesus looked around and found a woman. He said to her, “Go in peace and be freed from suffering.”
This healing process has in-depth meaning. A woman has been suffering for almost 12 years, and no one has cured her. She believed that Jesus might heal her, even though there were so many obstacles, particularly the crowd composed of the group of men. The second obstacle is that she is unclean due to her situation, known as “niddah.” This “niddah” is a Jewish tradition in which a woman should make distance or be separated from the crowd while there is a menstrual discharge. So, the woman was separated for 12 years from many and isolated from any religious rituals. When Jesus learned of the woman’s situation, he indirectly healed her. Then, the woman is now free from suffering, separation, and filth.
The direct healing process story, according to the gospel, has two storylines. First, a synagogue leader named Jairus appealed to Jesus to heal and live his daughter. The plea of Jairus is clearly to heal and live. Then, the story line was cut short when a bleeding woman crossed the line. In this biblical narrative, Mark is trying to elaborate on the significance of faith in God in the healing process. Seemingly, the pleader is the leader of the synagogue. His understanding of faith is different from the perspective of a bleeding woman. Contextually, both the leader of the synagogue and a bleeding woman have different situations when asking for healing from Jesus. To make a long story short, some people in the house of Jairus inform him that his daughter is already dead. This is another trial for Jairus. If anyone of us has had the same experience with Jairus, then we are losing our faith in God and looking to find strength. But Jesus challenges Jairus and says to him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
This is the interesting part of the gospel reading today. Two story lines in one story set up. The gospel writer sums up the story by describing the healing process. On the other hand, Jesus made a decision to get the daughter of Jairus from out-of-nothing to living hope. This direct healing process has the plus factor of the getting-up process from a dead-threatening situation. The purpose of Jesus is not to cure the illness of the girl but to get her out of being dead. According to the text, the girl is metaphorically dead. Jesus commands the girl to awaken, come into being, and establish her return to God. Also, it encourages the crowd to do the same as the girl should.
Everybody has experienced the indirect healing process; however, we need to heal completely by getting up against our personal will. Our personal freedom, will, and choice make us separate from God. Having strong faith in God is the way to heal us from our brokenness, irony, misery, and tragedy. According to Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (3:5–6).
God is the ultimate healing provider. That’s why the state enacted great laws providing medical attention to Filipinos. The past administration signed into law the Universal Health Care Act in 2018 and the Malasakit Centers Act in 2019 to provide medical and financial assistance to the indigent Filipino people and improve the health care system. The purpose of these laws is to allot appropriated funds to government hospitals so that all Filipinos will become eligible to have medical treatment without paying a single centavo from the government hospitals. On the contrary, the appropriated funds intended for these health programs were allotted to the representatives and the senators. As a result, many Filipinos from all over the country are queuing in government hospitals, especially in specialty hospitals, hoping to be cared for and cured, as well as asking for medical assistance from Malasakit Centers and politicians. If the funds are directly allotted to the various government hospitals, the Filipino people may benefit. But I am sorry to hear that some of the funds intended for patient assistance were allotted to 24 senators and 316 representatives.
In wrapping up, Jesus reminds us that we need to have strong faith in God to sustain our good health and maintain a healthy balance. Jesus’ ministry to provide healing to the unclean and weak is the manifestation that many are victims of the current political system. We need to strengthen our spiritual life to sustain and maintain our healthy lives because, in the early world, our hope for forever healing is undeniable.
Prayer
Dear God, the provider of long life and good health!
Please comfort and relieve your ill servants, and give more power of your healing to our health practitioners so they can serve the sick people of the country. Also, allow them to serve without personal reservation and provide them with strength and confidence in caring for the sick.
We pray for your unconditional healing for us.
