Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word Among Us” for Monday, 7 July 2014

Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word Among Us” for Monday, 7 July 2014
Meditations: Matthew 9:Just a Touch
18-19 As he finished saying this, a local official appeared, bowed politely, and said, “My daughter has just now died. If you come and touch her, she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, his disciples following along.
20-22 Just then a woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years slipped in from behind and lightly touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can just put a finger on his robe, I’ll get well.” Jesus turned—caught her at it. Then he reassured her: “Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re well.” The woman was well from then on.
23-26 By now they had arrived at the house of the town official, and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and the neighbors bringing in casseroles. Jesus was abrupt: “Clear out! This girl isn’t dead. She’s sleeping.” They told him he didn’t know what he was talking about. But when Jesus had gotten rid of the crowd, he went in, took the girl’s hand, and pulled her to her feet—alive. The news was soon out, and traveled throughout the region.
14th Week in Ordinary Time
Your faith has saved you. (Matthew 9:22)
You’ve probably watched Olympic figure skating before, but you may not know how complicated the judging is. The judges use instant replay to decide on a technical score for each element of a skater’s routine such as jumps or spins. Then they use a component score for factors such as skating skills, choreography, and transitions. For each segment of a routine, the technical score is added to the component score, and a computer selects scores from the judges to get a total score. That’s a lot of scoring and calculating, isn’t it?
Some of us may think that Jesus is like one of these judges. We imagine that he was keeping score of the official with the sick daughter and the woman with the hemorrhage. He must have looked at how much faith they had and decided to give them a passing grade—to hear their prayers and intervene in their lives.
But look at the way Matthew tells the story. He doesn’t give any indication that these two had any more faith than anyone else. Of course, they believed that he would help them. But so did many in the crowd. What was different about these two people was their determination to get right in front of—or behind—Jesus. The official interrupted Jesus while he was speaking to a crowd. And the woman pushed through all those people to touch Jesus’ cloak. Notice too that when they got to him, Jesus didn’t subject them to any scrutiny. He responded with love, just as he responds to anyone who comes to him with even a mustard seed of faith.
Isn’t this great news? What counts with Jesus is that we come to him. It’s true that we must believe that he can and will reward those who seek him. But it’s okay if you are feeling lost, scared, broken, or not in the right frame of mind. Simply trust Jesus and push through your doubt so that you can encounter him. He may not give you a spectacular healing, but he will give himself to you—his faith, his compassion, his mercy. And that’s more than enough to see you through any challenge!
“Lord, I’m not asking for perfect faith—just faith! Help me to find the courage to come to you. Today I will trust you in everything, known and unknown!” Amen.
Hosea 2:16-20 “At that time”—this is God’s Message still—
    “you’ll address me, ‘Dear husband!’
Never again will you address me,
    ‘My slave-master!’
I’ll wash your mouth out with soap,
    get rid of all the dirty false-god names,
    not so much as a whisper of those names again.
At the same time I’ll make a peace treaty between you
    and wild animals and birds and reptiles,
And get rid of all weapons of war.
    Think of it! Safe from beasts and bullies!
And then I’ll marry you for good—forever!
    I’ll marry you true and proper, in love and tenderness.
Yes, I’ll marry you and neither leave you nor let you go.
    You’ll know me, God, for who I really am.
21-23 “On the very same day, I’ll answer”—this is God’s Message—
    “I’ll answer the sky, sky will answer earth,
Earth will answer grain and wine and olive oil,
    and they’ll all answer Jezreel.
I’ll plant her in the good earth.
    I’ll have mercy on No-Mercy.
I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,’
    and he’ll say ‘You’re my God!’”
Psalms 145:2 I’ll bless you every day,
    and keep it up from now to eternity.
3 God is magnificent; he can never be praised enough.
    There are no boundaries to his greatness.
4 Generation after generation stands in awe of your work;
    each one tells stories of your mighty acts.
5 Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking;
    I compose songs on your wonders.
6 Your marvelous doings are headline news;
    I could write a book full of the details of your greatness.
7 The fame of your goodness spreads across the country;
    your righteousness is on everyone’s lips.
8 God is all mercy and grace—
    not quick to anger, is rich in love.
9 God is good to one and all;
    everything he does is suffused with grace.
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