Father Dan Juelfs
Homily from the Televised Mass, NewsCenter1
The 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 30, 2024

In our opening sentence of the first reading today, we find the line, “God did not make death.”

As we listen to the scripture reading, the rest of the readings, in particular the Gospel, we hear of God’s concern, care for those who are ill, those who are in need of healing. We have two very different stories in the Gospel passage. Very different but related examples of this kind of action. First, we have a very deliberate action on the part of Jesus toward the young girl who has been proclaimed dead. The daughter of the synagogue official. A man who normally wouldn’t have turned to an itinerant preacher to help but he was desperate, and he knew of, apparently had heard of Jesus offering cures and so he comes to him. 

The second situation is far different. The woman with the hemorrhage is also desperate for a cure, but she doesn’t openly approach Jesus. In fact, she only touches his garment and never makes any verbal contact with him. Never says anything at that point. It’s only when power goes out from him that Jesus is even aware of the fact that she’s there. Then he proclaims that it’s through her faith that this has happened. The faith of the woman has accomplished the cure. Her complete trust and confidence in what Jesus would be able to accomplish. 

Come back now to the situation with the little girl. Jesus continues to move towards the home of the synagogue leader despite the fact that the servants have come to say, “don’t bother. She died.” But Jesus continually goes, and he simply calls the father to have faith.

“Do not be afraid.”  

And then when he reaches the girl he simply calls her to get up and she does. That she’s able to respond physically through God’s call. 

What’s the common factor in both of these very different situations? I mean they all happen in the same time frame, but they’re certainly different circumstances, different ways in which Jesus is involved seemingly. But what the common factor is, at least as Jesus proclaims it, is faith. The faith of the woman who trusts that just touching Jesus’s clothes was going to bring about a cure, and it did. His call to the synagogue official to say when his servants come to say, “your daughter has died. Don’t bother the man any longer,” Jesus simply says, you know, “have faith. Be not afraid.” 

Jesus puts so much emphasis and so much awareness on the reality and the need for that kind of faith that that’s the common factor in today’s miracles, but we find that so often. That the faith of the recipient seems to have a great deal, shall I say, control over what happens. The faith of the recipient, the willingness of them to accept and to allow God to work in their lives. Their willingness to be open to be whatever they’re called to. 

We too are called to that same kind of faith, that same kind of confidence, that same kind of trust that says God, we’re called to believe that God is in charge even when we’re not able to see anything happen. Even when we don’t really recognize the presence of God, we know that God is still in charge, and that our call is to simply trust and to allow God to act as God wants to act. 

To change topics just a bit, this week we received the good news of bishop-elect, a bishop named for the Diocese of Rapid City. Bishop-elect Scott Bullock, a priest of the diocese of Dubuque, IA. He will be ordained here on the 23rd of September in the cathedral and begin his full-time ministry at that point. So, in the meantime we thank God for that gift of the new bishop. And we thank God for the way he continues to bless our diocese, continues to provide that sort of leadership for all of us.