"'Talitha, kum!'... 'Little girl, I tell you to get up.'"

{I do this as an acted homily, using a volunteer I have picked out in advance. This Sunday, Claudia, one of our altar servers has agreed to be my ‘straight-man’.}

Some time ago, when I worked in the missions, a twelve-year-old girl called Marissa came to see me in my office. She looked quite like our altar server, Claudia - just a little smaller. She had a very serious heart disease which was making her very ill. But we knew that there was an operation available in another country which could make to better and save her life. But we also knew that she would have to wait three months to get the operation. So, we had three months in which we had to try to keep her alive. She came to me, held my hand, looked into my eyes and said"Please doctor, I am afraid to die and I want to feel well. Please help me. Please do your best." I promised that I would indeed do my best.

For two months I did my best.
I saw her every week.
I watched her blood test results like a hawk.
I changed her treatment meticulously to keep her in exactly the best possible condition.
And initially, she did very well.
Then, three weeks before the operation was due, she started getting worse.
We tried everything we knew.
But nothing worked.
And she died.
{Lie Claudia down and put flowers around her.}

I don't know how her parents felt, but I was devastated. It was the lowest point in my medical career. The day I heard she died I cried for the first time in thirty years. I wanted to give up medicine right then. So, I think that I know a little bit - may be one tenth - of what Jairus must have felt watching his little girl get sick and dying and knowing there is not one thing that he can do about it.

So when he comes to Jesus, he may be a synagogue official. Maybe he is meant to be against Jesus. Maybe his job is on the line. But he is not thinking of that. He is thinking of his little girl. And he is thinking that maybe this man just might be his daughter's last best chance. So he comes to Jesus and he falls at his feet and - according to Mark - he "earnestly begs" Jesus. As I imagine the story, I think he probably does a little more than "earnestly beg" him. This man is desperate.

So then, what does it feels like when, as you walk along, someone else comes in and takes the magic power away to heal herself? Just how angry do you feel? And then your officials come to tell you that your daughter has now died. I don't know how that feels - to tell you the truth I would rather not think about that because I remember Marissa. But Jesus tells Jairus to have faith.
And Jairus is going to have Faith.
Because Jairus does not have another option.
Jairus is desperate.
Right now Jairus will stake his life on this man. More than that, much more, he will stake his daughter's life on this man. He has no other choice.
(Long pause.)

Talitha Kum.
"Little girl, I tell you to get up."

So what is the message of all this?
First, that Jesus' healing power is not a magic or a scarce resource, to be bought, bargained or fought over. It is God's love for all people and there is plenty for everyone.

Second that faith it is not a head thing - a belief, a thought, a well worked out position, like a politician's manifesto. No, it is the love that people have when the chips are really down - it is where you place your bottom dollar. It is who you trust when your little girl's life is on the line.

Let us stand and profess our faith in the God in whom we trust.

Mount Street Jesuit Centre,
114 Mount Street,
London SW1K 3AH.
ENGLAND.
fatbaldnproud@yahoo.co.uk