Just Have Faith

Homily for Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

St. Ephrem the Syrian, a prominent fourth-century theologian, writer, and poet composed a hymn about today’s Gospel passage:

Through this woman whom they could see,
The witnesses were enabled to behold the divinity
That cannot be seen.

Through the Son’s own healing power
His divinity became known . . .

If she was a witness to his divinity,
He in turn was a witness to her faith . . .
He saw through to her hidden faith,
And gave her a visible healing.

For both the woman and for Jairus, faith is the lynch pin that holds these two episodes together. Jesus tells the woman that her faith has saved her. A little later in the Gospel passage, Jesus is heard to say to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” Faith is the pre-eminent virtue in this Gospel passage, and love and healing are the Lord’s response. The psalmist, today, speaks from the same place of faith as the woman did. We hear the prayer: Listen, Lord, and answer me . . . incline your ear . . . for you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you. With faith and hope we, too, pray this psalm, following Jesus even when the noise around us seems overwhelming.

Christ brings life where there was none, and he brings light to those suffering in the darkness of illness or sin. At the heart of every encounter we have with the Lord is the possibility of healing, and the grace to know that our faith is leading us to Christ. May we be as visible a witness to the power and authority of Christ as this woman was; may our hearts come alive with the understanding that we need not fear, but just have faith.