I found the 1st reading rather consoling as I read: God did not make death nor does God rejoice in the destruction of the living rather God fashioned all things that we may have his being. God formed mankind to be imperishable, made in the image - of his own nature.

We are told that it was by the envy of the devil that death entered the world. Did you ever think of envy as having that kind of power over someone? Imagine that one’s uncontrollable desire to have something someone else has - could cost you your life. The evil one was envious of God. He wanted to be like God, and he used that same temptation with eve when he told her that if she ate of the fruit, she would not die but become like God, but it is when she eats of the fruit that death is brought upon mankind. What’s so sad about this is that God intended for us - become like him all along - as he made us in his own image, however because of envy and disobedience, human nature falls, but out of his love for us, God make things right again.

God sends His only begotten Son to redeem us so that we can have the imperishable life we were intended to have all along. It Is not envy that defines who we are anymore but it is our faith and trust in God that helps us be the person we were called to be. It’s when people have the misconception they don’t need God and can do everything on their own - that brings about their demise.

St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians tells us that: if we first give ourselves to the Lord we can excel in every respect: in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and love.  He states: I say this not by way of command but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others.  We can never allow envy and doubt - to manipulate us again.

In today’s Gospel, the woman who has been inflicted with an illness for over 12 years is allowing her doubts to manipulate her. She almost allows them to prevent her from even trying to approach Jesus by thinking that because there are so many people around him that she won’t be able to get near him, but then she realizes “all I have to do is touch his garment and I will be healed.” No sooner does she touch his cloak than she realizes she’s healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware of power having gone out of him asks everyone around him: Who touched me? To which the disciples respond to Jesus: you see - how the crowd is pressing upon you - and yet you ask who touched you?

The one who was pressing upon him had nothing to do with the size of the crowd but her act of faith. It is for this reason Jesus asks who touched me because he wants to know who this person of faith is. The woman, realizing what happened to her approached Jesus trembling in fear and falls down before Him and told him the whole truth to which Jesus responds: Daughter, your faith has saved you. Jesus is not just referring to her belief in a physical healing that saved her but her belief that Jesus is the Son of God and her knowing that he could heal her because of - who he is – Her lord and God – he who will bring her eternal life.   

Whenever someone is touched by God - they will never be the same. How often have you been touched by God? How often have you trusted that your relationship with him would make all the difference in your life because it will. It is often during times of our own trials or when we feel we are being pushed to the limits of what we can endure - before we realize all we need to do is to turn to God with a renewed intensity.

We now come to ‘Jarius’ daughter.’  Jesus calls to her and she responds to him. He calls her back to life for his words are life. You and I may be alive on earth, but we need to listen to the words of Jesus if we hope to be called to eternal life. It might seem easy to be going along every day without having God in our lives. It’s so easy to be concerned with everything around us and not think of God even though everything around us has been given to us by God. We should be concerned - how we could - ever let that happen. When we hear Jesus tell Jairus’ daughter to rise from her sleep maybe we need to apply those words to our own lives and ask Jesus to bring us out of the deep sleep we have been in when we didn’t allow him to be apart of our lives. Everyone is looking for peace and joy in this world, but it is only though a relationship with God that our desire for true peace and joy will be fulfilled  

There is a notion of time referred to as Kairos time or time of great theological significance for people in their lives. There were 5 men who had gone through this time of formation this past year, to help the prepare for seminary. There are 7 men who will be entering a Kairos year this fall for the Diocese. This is time for them to establish a close relationship with God and come to know his love and mercy for them - so they can better serve God’s people. We need to set aside that same kind of time ourselves if we hope to come closer to our lord

The woman afflicted with an illness for 12 years – finally took the time to touch Jesus’ cloak. You and I need to have that same boldness to reach out to God – and touch his garment – and be made whole again.