13th Sunday in Ordinary Time- The battle of faith over fear
Ref. Ps 30: 2-13 and Mk 5:21-43 6-29/30-24 Dcn. Bill Kenney
In today’s Gospel from St. Mark, Jairus fears and pleads in faith for his daughter’s healing. The hemorrhagic woman’s faith for healing is met with fear, then compassion. Jairus is then turned from fear to faith and joy when his daughter is risen from the dead. This reading is a classic example of a Markan intercalation — better known as a Markan “Sandwich”. Intercalation, besides being a great Jeopardy clue is a literary device that the author of Mark uses to teach a lesson. Its structure tells one story that is abruptly interrupted by another, but then returns to the original story to teach the reader a moral lesson. It may be likened to a soap opera drama going back and forth between simultaneous scenes. This “Markan Sandwich” highlights to the reader the moral lesson about the underlying battle of faith over fear.
It is a natural tendency that our fears can be greater than our faith, especially at the onset of bad news, challenges, and uncertainties. Fear is woven into the fabric of our human nature psyche. Fear can serve a valuable purpose: think of the fight or flight response, but it can quickly become unhealthy when it overwhelms
us or causes frantic behavior. The Bible commands us to not be afraid. In fact, there are over 300 variations of the command to “fear not” throughout Scripture. What fears can you identify in your life?
It is within our spiritual nature by which we can overcome fear by faith and confidence in the Lord. In order to replace fear with faith, we must hear, read and meditate on the Word of God, so that we can experience a strong, confident faith that actively rejects worry and fear. Ultimately, we must choose to trust God rather than to live in fear. In Ps. 34: “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Faith over fear is a decision we make before anxiety begins. It's seeking the Lord knowing he hears, and trusting him, knowing he will deliver and help.
Through faith and prayer, we can know God hears our petitions to deal with and alleviate fear, pain, and suffering. From 1 John, “And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours.” In peace and confidence, we pray, “…thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Jesus is well familiar with our struggles of fear and weakness of faith. In his short ministry on earth, Jesus performs two miracles in our Gospel reading to prove his mission. These miracles are signs with a purpose. Signs that point to Jesus as the Son of God full of power, love, mercy, and compassion for us. As Christians, we don’t need to fear unstable world and personal affairs, for which there are plenty of examples, because we know God is in control. God is on His throne, meaning nothing else is – not a terminal diagnosis, not unmet living expectations, not political rivalries, not war escalation. He alone has all power and all authority, and nothing can threaten that. That means when fear creeps in, we believers are called to take our fear and give it, in faith, to God, knowing his unfailing promises and unchanging character. From 1Pt: “Take your fears, worries, and anxieties before God because he cares about them and he desires your good.”
We bring our fears and struggling faith here to the holy sacrifice of the Mass. We make our offerings of bread and wine as well as our doubts, fears, and sins to the Holy Spirit who sanctifies, transforms them and gives us back the Son’s true body, blood, soul, and divinity in the holy Eucharist, giving us new life in Christ.
The truth of God’s Word and his promises bridge the gap between the fear you feel and what you know to be true about God and His love for you. When our fears are calmed and when we realize his love we grow in a deeper relationship with God. We are called to share that relationship with others to calm their fears and bring them to the truth and light of a vibrant life with Christ. We’ve heard in Ps.30- “You changed my mourning into dancing.. and clothed me with gladness. So that my glory may praise you and not be silent...“ It’s time for us to allow faith to flourish and to refuse to live in fear.
Throughout our pilgrimage we will continue to face various trials that would cause us fear, but God assures us that we can know a calm peace through every situation: From Phil.: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. May we seek the peace of the Lord in our fears and tribulations and grow in faith and trust in him, for our eternal salvation and for the glory of God.