A business executive became depressed. Things were not going well at work, and he was bringing his problems home with him every night. Every evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and five-year-old daughter. Then he would go into the den and busy himself at the computer to wall his family out of his life.
After several nights of this, one evening his daughter took her little hand and pushed away the computer screen. She then jumped into her father’s lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him strongly. The father said abruptly, “Honey, you are hugging me to death!” “No, Daddy,” the little girl said, “I’m hugging you to life!”
This was the greatness of Jesus. He took people where they were and hugged them to life. In today’s Gospel (Mark:21-43) Jesus he goes to the “upper crust” of society and raises the 12-year old daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue back to life again.
On the way to the girl, Jesus cures the hemorrhaging woman in the crowd who was a social outcast. These two vastly different people, the down and out hemorrhaging woman and the upper-crust daughter of Jairus, are loved into life by our Lord.
Who has hugged YOU back into life? Who have YOU hugged back into life?
THE CLOSER YOU GET TO JESUS, THE SMALLER EVERYTHING ELSE APPEARS!
