Fr. Roger J. Landry
Visitation Mission of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan
Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
Memorial of St. Agatha
February 5, 2019
Heb 12:1-4, Ps 22, Mk 5:21-43
To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
The following points were attempted in the homily:
- Today we reach what I believe is the climax of our biennial four-week liturgical meditation on the Letter to the Hebrews and one of the most encouraging passages in Sacred Scripture, something that sums up not just the point of the letter but the essence of the Christian life. After having focused on Jesus being God the Father’s definitive Message and Messenger, after describing him as the one who through obedience and suffering as our eternal high priest will lead us to perfection through our own faithful union with him in the midst of our Crosses, after saying that he understands our temptations and can relate to us in our weakness, after having described all of the great Old Testament figures of hypomone or holy endurance, the sacred author gives us the image almost of a stadium full of these heroes and says: “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.” These witnesses have not only shown us the way but they’re cheering us on like marathoners needing inspiration from the crowd to make the finish line. The author tells us to let go of the strings and chains of sin that bind us and to persevere in running the race. And we will do this, he says, if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith, the one who guides us in running the race and the one who helps bring our faith to completion. The Christian life is about keeping our eyes on Jesus in faith as we follow him by running together with him: the more we run with him, the more we’ll break the bonds of sin. The letter then specifies the Jesus on whom we’re supposed to fix our eyes permanently: not a soft, cuddly bear or an unchallenging baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, but one who “for the sake of the joy that lay before him … endured the cross, despising its shame,” who “endured such opposition from sinners.” Keeping our focus on Jesus’ triumph through suffering will help us “not grow weary and lose heart” and in our “struggle against sin” help us to resist to “the point of shedding blood.” That is the fight we found in the martyrs, who would rather die than sin. Once we have received that strength from Jesus, then, whether with blood or not, we will truly resist sin.
- In the Gospel, we see two who kept their eyes fixed on Jesus. Jairus kept his eyes on him. By this point, Jesus had already been kicked out of the synagogues by those seeking to kill him on account of his supposed violation of the Sabbath. Jairus’ approaching Jesus at all was a bold act that could have gotten him in trouble with the other leaders of the synagogue. The fact that he would fall down before Jesus, as if he were minimally a prophet but possibly even more, would have solicited anger and worse from many of his colleagues. But he despised the shame and with faith in Jesus and love for his daughter he approached with his eyes firmly fixed on Jesus. He kept his eyes on him in faith when Jesus stopped along the way to find out who touched him. It would be like an ambulance driver’s stopping to pick up coffee at a convenience store while rushing a heart attack victim to the hospital. But Jairus didn’t lose faith or complain. After his friends told him his daughter had died, he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus as Jesus told him, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” He kept his eyes fixed on him when Jesus told the mourners that Jairus’ dead daughter was just sleeping. He kept his eyes fixed on Jesus when Jesus grabbed his little girl’s hand and raised her up. And I like to think he kept his eyes fixed in gratitude on Jesus after the stupendous miracle. No matter what was going on inside and outside of him, he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus as, despising the shame and ridding himself of everything that held him back, Jesus led him to the resurrection of his daughter.
- The woman with the 12 year hemorrhage likewise kept her eyes in faith on Jesus. She said to herself, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” And so braving being trampled by the crowd that was bumping up continuously against Jesus as they rushed to Jairus’ house, she crawled and got to his hem and that’s when the miracle happened. Jesus stopped and asked, “Who touched me?,” because he knew power had gone out of him and he wanted to give this woman more than just a physical miracle, but salvation through faith. He wanted her to look at the perfecter and leader of faith in the eyes. She came up to him with fear and trembling since she, with her hemorrhage was ritually impure and had made Jesus by touching him similarly ritually impure, but Jesus didn’t castigate her. After she had fallen down before him, Jesus looked at her with love and said, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.” He guided her toward the perfection of faith, which is salvation.
- St. Agatha, the young virgin martyr who was killed for the faith in Catania, Sicily, in 251, likewise kept her eyes fixed on Jesus. She was pursued by one of the local leaders Quintian who couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. When she refused his advances, he indignantly wanted to teach her a lesson. After all, he was the local leader and he believed he should have the right to have sex with any virgin he wanted and if she refused he thought nothing of using the power of the state to force her compliance. He threatened her with being sent to a brothel, to prison, to being tortured, to being killed. She replied, in words that are significant, “Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil.” She kept her eyes on the Lord. She knew she belonged to him. Quintian followed through on all his threats, but it didn’t shake Agatha’s trust in Jesus. She resisted to the point, and beyond, of shedding her blood and overcame the devil. And Jesus answered her prayers and now all that she is possessed by him in heaven.
- Today at this Mass, St. Agatha is among the cloud of witnesses cheering us on as we continue the journey of Christian life. She’s interceding for us to leave sin behind and cling to Jesus with our eyes, with our heart, with our soul, mind and strength. She wants us to recognize that at Mass we do more than touch Jesus’ garment, but he touches us in every part of our body and soul in holy communion. And she wants us, as we prepare to behold the Lamb of God, to keep our eyes fixed on him, as he leads us to perfection of faith and brings us to join at last the great cloud of witnesses and share their eternal company.
The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1 Heb 12:1-4
Brothers and sisters:
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.
For the sake of the joy that lay before him
Jesus endured the cross, despising its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.
Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,
in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.
For the sake of the joy that lay before him
Jesus endured the cross, despising its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.
Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,
in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 22:26b-27, 28 and 30, 31-32
R. (see 27b) They will praise you, Lord, who long for you.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
“May your hearts be ever merry!”
R. They will praise you, Lord, who long for you.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
All the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.
To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth;
Before him shall bend
all who go down into the dust.
R. They will praise you, Lord, who long for you.
And to him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. They will praise you, Lord, who long for you.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
“May your hearts be ever merry!”
R. They will praise you, Lord, who long for you.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
All the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.
To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth;
Before him shall bend
all who go down into the dust.
R. They will praise you, Lord, who long for you.
And to him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. They will praise you, Lord, who long for you.
Alleluia Mt 8:17
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
“My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live.”
He went off with him
and a large crowd followed him.
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
“My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live.”
He went off with him
and a large crowd followed him.
There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked,
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked,
“Who has touched my clothes?”
But his disciples said to him,
“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, Who touched me?”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”
But his disciples said to him,
“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, Who touched me?”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”
While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said,
“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
“Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep.”
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child’s father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,”
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said,
“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
“Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep.”
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child’s father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,”
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.
