The "coolest" table of all!

Wis 1:13-15; 2:23-24 God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome, and there is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of the netherworld on earth, for justice is undying. For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who belong to his company experience it.


2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15 Brothers and sisters: As you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. Not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their needs, so that their abundance may also supply your needs, that there may be equality.
As it is written:
”Whoever had much did not have more,
and whoever had little did not have less.”

Mark 5: 21-43 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to Jesus, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."

While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

Alicia, Lorenzo, Lily and I were going to take Mom to Mass today, but she called me this morning and said she wasn’t going to go because she wasn’t feeling well. So the kids and I went anyway, as planned, then visited Mom afterwards. I’m glad we went to St. Anne’s today, because Father Brandon’s sermon was, in my opinion, on point for today’s readings. I told him after Mass I was going to steal his homily for my blog. He laughed, and said, “Go right ahead!” Then Alicia chimed in and said, “It’s not stealing if you ask him—it’s plagiarism!” Of course since it wasn’t written down—Father B made it up on the spot—it’s not plagiarism either. So I’ll just tell the story as I heard it and give credit to him. I hope I get it right, because I respect Father a lot and wouldn’t want to make him out to be a bigger “wuss” than he makes himself out to be sometimes. (He’s just sooooo humble!)

When young Brandon was growing up, he attended public grade school and middle school. When it was time to enter high school, his parents enrolled him at Central Catholic High School in Modesto. He was a real introvert (he still is!) and so for a period of time he would sit at a table all by himself at lunch. It wasn’t that he wasn’t friendly, he just felt uncomfortable initiating friendships. About 3 or 4 weeks after his arrival at the school, one of his teammates from the football team came up and asked him, “Would you like to sit with us?” and pointed to a table full of students. He hesitated at first, because of his shyness, but in the end he said, “Sure” and started eating lunch with pretty much the same crowd from then on. As the football season got rolling, and the team was doing well, everybody wanted to sit at the table with the football players, the cheerleaders and anybody else who was considered “cool”. The table they were sitting at became colloquially known as the “cool” table. Not just anybody could sit there. You had to be “cool”. Brandon was considered “un-cool” until he was invited that day, and in a way, it hurt. But, as Father will tell you today, being “cool” is decidedly better!

In the days of the Gospel, there were 3 types of people who were shunned because they were considered “unclean”—Those who had leprosy, those who had touched or been around the dead, and those who were suffering from bodily discharges like the hemorrhaging woman. It was considered taboo to invite these people to dinner, or walk with them, or have anything to do with them. In a sense, they were “un-cool” to be around.

But the “un-cool” are the very people whom Christ came to invite to the “coolest” table of them all—His Father’s table. So when he heard about Jairus’ daughter, he dropped everything and started out. He put no restrictions on Jairus, and asked him no questions—He just “went off with him.” He came to invite all of God’s children to His table, and Jairus, through his faith, had accepted the offer. The same is true with the hemorrhaging woman. She merely had to “ask”—although she didn’t ask verbally—and Christ healed her simply on the basis of her faith!

If you think about it, Jesus never put restrictions on anyone he helped. All you have to do is believe, and imitate Him to the best of your ability. How many times did he say, after curing someone or healing an affliction “Go, your faith has saved you”, or “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace and sin no more”?

As the 1st and 2nd readings remind us, we are all under the cloud of sin, which would, in Christ’s time, have made us “un-cool”. Christ continues to call out to each of us every day inviting us to the “coolest” table of all—His Altar—where we can partake of His very Body and Blood.