February 4, 2025
Tuesday of the Fourth Week in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 324
Reading 1
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.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.
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, “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.”
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.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020425.cfm
Commentary on Hebrews 12:1-4
More words of encouragement today for the Hebrew Christians
to whom this letter is addressed, urging them to remain faithful to their
Christian calling and not to be tempted to fall back to the old ways. First,
the author reminds them of “so great a cloud of witnesses” to the faith. He is
referring to that impressive list of Old Testament heroes mentioned in the
previous chapter, some of whom we saw in the readings of the past two days. The
Greek term for “witnesses” (martyres) gives us our English-language word
for “martyr”.
The imagery here suggests an athletic contest in a great
amphitheatre. But the witnesses in this case are not mere spectators; they are
inspiring examples. They bear witness (as “martyrs”) to the power of faith and
God’s faithfulness.
These Hebrews should follow in their footsteps and lay aside
every obstacle, especially sin, which can be so difficult to shake off.
Instead, let them “run with perseverance the race” that is set before them.
Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians uses a similar
image:
Run in such a way that you may win it [i.e. a
race]….I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air…
(1 Cor 9:24,26)
Again, to the Philippians, this is precisely what the author
is telling his readers to do:
I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I
have kept the faith. (2 Tim 4:7)
We may say, too, that Christian life is pictured as a
long-distance race rather than a short sprint. Some Hebrew Christians were
tempted to drop out of the contest because of persecution and obstacles to the
practice of their faith. Perhaps they were among those pestered by the
‘Judaisers’ whom Paul speaks about in the Letter to the Galatians (chap 2).
As their model, they are to look to Jesus, the “pioneer and
perfecter” of their faith. He both leads the way in showing how to lead a life
of faith and, through his death, at the same time gives the strength and grace
for them fully to develop their own faith.
Just as a runner concentrates on the finishing line, we
should concentrate on Jesus, the goal and objective of our faith (see Phil
3:13-14). Jesus is both the start and the end of the race. He is also the
supreme witness who has already run the race and overcome.
Jesus set a marvelous example. In order to reach the
unending joy and happiness which was offered to him, he underwent the appalling
pain of the cross and the despised terrible shame of such a death, hanging
naked in a public place as a criminal. Because of this, he now sits at the
right hand of the throne of God. If they (and we) follow in his footsteps, they
(and we), too, can be with Jesus sharing the same glory.
And, whenever they are tempted to give up or lose heart, let
them remember:
…him who endured such hostility against himself from
sinners…
—in other words, from sinners like them and sinners like us.
Finally, he reminds them that, unlike their Master and Lord
Jesus and many other martyrs, they have not yet been asked to shed their blood
in their living out of the Gospel. They may have been persecuted and even lost
their possessions, but they have not had to die for their faith. The whole
passage can be applied word for word to our own situation.
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Commentary on Mark 5:21-43
Today’s passage illustrates a feature of Mark’s
Gospel—inclusion, where one passage is contained inside another. Today we have
two miracles, with one of them narrated inside the other. Again we are told of
large crowds gathering around Jesus on the shore as once again he crosses the
lake.
A synagogue official, Jairus, approaches and begs Jesus to
lay his healing hands on his daughter who is very ill. Jairus was a person
responsible for conducting services at the synagogue and keeping order.
Sometimes the position was honorary, without any administrative responsibility.
Jairus asks Jesus to come and lay his healing hands on his
daughter, as he has done for so many others. As Jesus makes his way to the
house followed by a large crowd, there is a woman who had been haemorrhaging
for 12 years. She had tried every kind of medical treatment in vain, and she
was getting worse. Apart from the distress caused by the ailment, her bleeding
rendered her ritually unclean. If the people around her knew of her condition,
she might have been attacked. Hence she felt great anxiety about approaching
Jesus without being identified or drawing attention.
She had this tremendous faith that, just by touching the hem
of Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. And she was—immediately. In both cases,
there was a deep conviction that physical contact, together with faith in
Jesus’ power to heal, would bring about a cure. It is important for us to
recover the connection between physical touch and healing.
Jesus knew something had happened:
Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him,
Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?”
His disciples naturally wondered why he would say this when
so many people were pressing in on him.
In fear and trembling, probably more afraid of the crowd
than of Jesus, the woman identified herself. She then hears the beautiful
words:
Daughter, your faith [i.e. your total trust in
me] has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.
Peace indeed. Not only was she physically cured, but she
could now mix freely with people again. She was fully restored to society and
her community, without the shame that a woman of that time would feel, and
without having to hide.
After this, we resume the first story. Messengers come to
say that Jairus’ daughter has died. There is no need to bother Jesus any more.
Jesus urges Jairus to keep believing. As he approaches the house, he separates
from the crowd and brings only Peter, James and John with him as witnesses to a
very special event. The house is full of mourners, wailing and weeping in the
customary way.
Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not
dead but sleeping.
In so speaking, Jesus is not denying the child’s real death,
but it is an assurance that she will be wakened from her sleep of death. Death
in the Old Testament is often described as sleep. And we, too, read on
gravestones that so-and-so “went to sleep in the Lord”.
The crowd, often portrayed as so supportive of Jesus, is
here shown as incredulous. They laugh at him. So everyone is put out of the
room except the child’s parents and Jesus’ three companions. Then:
Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,”
which means, “Little girl, get up!”
The words suggest resurrection to new life. Immediately the
girl got up and began to walk around. She was just 12 years old.
Those present are “overcome with amazement” and are told not
to say anything to anyone. They are also reminded to give the poor girl some
food. This is another step in the unfolding of Jesus’ true identity, while at
the same time, he does not want that identity to be made public at this stage.
It is another indication of Jesus’ mission:
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
(John 10:10)
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(Source: Living Space)
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