Faith has been the main topic of our Gospel readings these past few Sundays. In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus illustrated for us that if we could just start with a tiny amount of faith, that faith has the potential to grow in amazing ways. Last Sunday, we heard of the disciples cry out to Jesus in terror, as they felt that they were perishing in a terrible storm. Jesus asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” Seeing Jesus calm the storm, the disciples were filled with awe; they were able to respond to this event out of their faith.
Today, we are presented another story of faith in the woman afflicted with hemorrhages. Out of her faith, she believes that if she only touches his garment, she will be cured of her affliction. However, when she realizes that Jesus senses what has happened, she steps forward in trembling and fear. However, I don’t think she was in fear of Jesus. She was afraid because she should not have been in that public place at all and should not have approached him. The Jews in Ancient Israel would have seen her as unclean from the blood from her hemorrhages. If they had realized her situation, it would have been a grave matter. Like those afflicted with HIV/AIDS in our society in the early days of that disease, she would have remained in the shadows out of fear. With her secret exposed publicly, she would have been very afraid. As she steps forward, falling at Jesus’ feet, she tells him everything. Yet, we do not see Jesus responding in anger or indignation. He tells her that her faith has restored her to health, that she can now go in peace.
Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, has restored the woman suffering from hemorrhages to fullness of life. Yes, she is physically cured, but also she now can be fully integrated again in society. She is once again a whole person. Her faith in Jesus allowed her to be healed in him.
Since this past Tuesday, we in the American Catholic Church have been commemorating Religious Freedom Week. Having the freedom to practice our faith is our country is necessary for us to be able to journey through life as disciples of Christ. It is important for us as Christians to be able to witness to our faith, especially when Christians are being persecuted throughout the world and our own nation is being more secular and increasingly hostile to Christianity. When there are so many changes taking place in our society’s basic structure and values, we Christians need to be able to respectfully and honestly understand what we believe, be able to express what we believe, and be able to live out those beliefs in our daily lives.
This upcoming Tuesday, we conclude Religious Freedom Week the solemnity of St Peter and St Paul, martyrs for our faith. Usually, the second readings in our Sunday liturgies are from the letters of Paul; today we hear from Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians. Today, as in many of his writings, Paul expresses his passion for the faith and for living out his new life in Christ. Paul extols the Corinthians for their faith, knowledge, and earnestness, but above all by imitating Jesus in his gracious act of sacrificial love. So many people are looking for something meaningful in life. Paul encourages us as believers to hold onto our faith and discipleship in Jesus with a greater embrace. Our faith is for the altar, for the mass, for the sacraments of our Church. But our faith is also lived out in our homes, in the streets and the highways, in the workplace, offices, and schools. Religious Freedom Week remembers St Paul and others who were persecuted for the faith, encouraging us to never take for granted the freedom we have enjoyed to be witnesses for that one true faith.
We are not a Church of the few. We are not a select Church for those who claim to be perfect or to have all the answers. We are not a Church of hate and hypocrisy. As Paul extolled the virtues which the Christian community in Corinth embodied, he also called that community to make sacrifices in order to help support the Church in Jerusalem. We are called to reach out to others in love and charity, but we do so in the context of God’s holy teachings and commandments. We do not abandon the immigrant or the poor, the sick or the prisoner, the oppressed or the forgotten, but we also do not abandon the truth of God. Today, in faith, we come before God’s holy altar, knowing that he will help us in our desire to practice our faith as disciples of Christ through the religious freedom we have been accorded since the founding of our nation. Let us pray that we stand true to the truth of the Gospel, true to the faith that has brought us this far.
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