9781644135945

The Light of the World
who was troubled with an issue of blood is a type of paganism seeking Christ. Christ cured her
even before He entered the house of Jairus. The pagans became the first to reap the benefits of
salvation; only when the pagans have all entered the Church, will Israel as a people accept the
faith. When Israel has come into the Church, the final coming of Christ will not be far distant.
Today the Church rejoices in the fact that Christ has called His once chosen people to salvation
and restores it to life as He did the daughter of Jairus. She trusts in the promise of God, “I think
thoughts of peace and not of affliction. . . . I will bring back your captivity” (Introit); that is, I
will bring you back to share in the graces and blessings of Christ’s redemption. “Lord, Thou
hast blessed Thy land; Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob” (Introit). The Jews will
share the sonship of God with the pagans and will partake of the inheritance of the children of
God. In that day there will be but one flock and one shepherd, one kingdom, one Church, one
eternal communion of saints, united in one head, Christ. Such is Christ’s victory, the victory
of grace. Thus the Church feels, hopes, and prays. The Church desires the salvation of all men,
whether Jew or Gentile. We share in this desire of the Church and pray to God for that end in
the Kyrie during Mass.
Like the daughter of Jairus and the woman troubled with the issue of blood, we await the
touch of Christ. When He will return, when we shall arise again in the flesh, “He will reform
the body of our lowness” (Epistle) even more effectively than He did for this woman and for
the daughter of Jairus. With the liturgy today we are absorbed in the thought of Christ’s return,
which will be such a joyful day for the Church. In that day she will be gathered together in all
her members; all of her children and all those masses of mankind who have died in the state
of sanctifying grace will be lifted up “out of the depths” of earthly misery to the heights of
the heavenly happiness, where they will behold God face to face and enjoy eternal rest and
blessedness. What Christ did for the dead girl and the ailing woman, He does today and every
day to men without number, when He brings them back from their exile to the house of their
heavenly Father. Therefore we sing in the Gradual: “In God shall we glory all the day.” O blessed
return of Christ at the end of time, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage! It will be the day of our
salvation. “I think thoughts of peace.”
Today Christ enlightens us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Today, in company with the ruler
of the synagogue and the sick woman, we approach Christ at the Offertory of the Mass. What
can we offer Him? Like Jairus and the ailing woman, we have nothing but our sickness, our
misery, and our death. We have all been wounded by Original Sin and by personal sins; we are
all sick, weak, and dying. “Out of the depths [of our sins] I have cried to Thee” (Alleluia verse).
In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we find Christ. At the Consecration He comes to meet us
and is touched by our misery and distress. Not only does He listen to our troubles, but He makes
them His own and unites Himself to us most intimately in His most pure sacrifice. Offering
Himself to His Father, He offers also our distress, our prayers, and our desires, supporting
them by His love, His merits, His purity, and His holiness. With us He prays, “Give us this day
our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses. . . . Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us
from evil.” At the time of Holy Communion He comes directly to us. This is He who cured the
woman of the Gospel and who took the sick daughter of Jairus by the hand and restored her
to life. When He touches us, too, we shall observe that power goes out of Him and heals us. “I
think thoughts of peace and not of affliction.” “Amen I say to you, whatsoever you ask when you
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