God Is In Control - Always Has and Always Will Be

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.     (Mark 5: 21-43) 

Today's reading is very long so I have reproduced only part of it here.  In the first century, death was a faithful companion that visited most every family.  Rare it was that a family did not lose a child to one disease or another.  Jesus was walking and was accompanied by a large crowd.  Mark, who was a doctor, makes a point of stating that there was a lady in the crowd who was sick and had spent all of her money on doctors trying to find a cure to no avail.  This lady was desperate and so she reasoned that if she could just touch the clothing of Jesus that she would be cured.  So, almost miraculously, she was able to get close to Jesus and touched Him and her disease was immediately cured.  Jesus stopped and asked, "Who touched me?"  The apostles pointed out to Him that He was in the midst of a huge crowd so how could they tell who touched Him?  The lady who was cured owned up to what she had done and Jesus told her that her faith had cured her.  Then word came that the little girl He was going to see had died.  Jesus pushed forward and arrived at the little girl's house which was surrounded by hired mourners who wailed and cried and made a great noise.  He told them to stop the caterwauling because the girl was just sleeping.  They began to ridicule Him.  He took the parents and three of His apostles inside.  He approached the bedside of the little girl and commanded her to arise.  She opened her eyes and was very much alive again.  Jesus gave her back to her parents and told them to give her something to eat. 

These past few days we have seen Jesus display his ability to control things and we have seen Him calm a raging storm but today he does something astonishing, he raised a little girl from the dead and gave her a second chance at life. He did this for a family whose father was described as an official of the synagogue. He told the stunned parents not to tell anyone about what happened.

So, we learn today that Jesus cannot be defeated by any enemy. We have seen Him cast out demons, cure the sick, and today he shows that He has power over death.  Is it little wonder why people were following him?  Yet, as we know all of His miracles and shows of power were not enough to save Him from the Cross.  What more could he have done to establish His bona fides?  

Today, we read about the miracles of Jesus and I would imagine that at times we think that it would have been great to live in the time of Christ and to be present for these great miracles that Jesus wrought.  But, Christianity is a religion of miracles!  We pray and God provides, without fail. Because everything that we need for us to get to heaven will be provided to us.  He feeds us with His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity which is provided at every mass we attend.  He forgives us our every transgression against God and man in the sacrament of penance.  He watches and blesses our marriages and families in the Sacrament of Matrimony.  He makes provision for our spiritual needs by providing priests and deacons in Holy Orders.  When our time grows short and we are ready to close our eyes and return home, even then he gives us food for the journey in Viaticum and a blessing that absolves us from sin that we have repented of.  He has thought of everything and add to this our free will and we have the opportunity to join with the Creator, not as a slave, but as a friend. 

So, no matter where you are today, in joy or in sorrow, know that Our God is an awesome God who loves us more than we can ever imagine.  Our troubles are His troubles, our tears, He will wipe away.  His strength He will give us so that with our cooperation we will join Him for coffee and biscotti in heaven forever!  God bless you this day. 

Someday you might experience Purgatory for yourself. On that day you will hope and pray that someone on earth will pray for you to help you get to heaven sooner.  Please remember to pray for the poor souls - they are desperate for our help and our prayers.