p. 38Some Practical Lessons on Prayer in the Gospel Narrative

We have seen in the foregoing Chapters, first, that prayer is absolutely necessary for salvation; secondly, that, if made with the proper dispositions and in the proper manner, prayer is all-powerful and efficacious; thirdly, that prayer in itself is so easy as to be in the power of every man, wherever he may be, and whenever he wishes. It follows from all this that we can offer no valid excuse for not praying, and that, if we do not save our soul and reach our place in heaven, it will be entirely our fault, for it will be owing to our wilful neglect of prayer. God wills our salvation, for St. Paul says: “God willeth all men to be saved” (I Tim. 2. 4). He is, as we have seen, ever willing and ready to help us to do all that is necessary for our salvation, if we only ask Him for His assistance; and with His assistance we become all-powerful and can perform all that is required for salvation. Without His help, however, we can do nothing for our salvation. And if we do not obtain His help, it is because we do not want it, for, if we did, we would surely ask it of Him.

Some persons have a kind of wish to be saved, but they want God to do it all for them, without their having to do their share; they are like that pagan who expected Jupiter to extricate his wagon from the rut, without his being obliged to put his shoulder to the wheel. He who earnestly desires to save his soul, willingly does all in his power to succeed, and by frequent and fervent prayer asks God to help him with His all-powerful grace, and he will surely succeed. God in His goodness has His hand always stretched out to us to help us along the precipices in our road to heaven; to keep ourselves from a fatal fall into the abyss below, we have only to take hold of God’s hand and be saved; if we will not take hold of His hand, and therefore fall to destruction, it is our own fault. We can take hold of God’s almighty hand by prayer; if we pray, our salvation is assured; but woe to us, if we neglect praying to Him.

The following narratives from the Gospel will plainly manifest to us the dispositions with which our prayers should be accompanied, in order to deserve that God should grant us what we pray for. To derive real profit therefrom, the reader should read them slowly and attentively; and should, moreover, reflect on them, if he earnestly desires to profit by the lessons they convey.

1. The Pharisee and the Publican

Luke 18. 10-14.

“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a pharisee, the other a publican. The pharisee, standing, prayed thus within himself: O God, I give Thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican. I fast twice in a week; I give tithes of all I possess to the poor. And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven, but struck his breast, saying: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I say to you, this man went down into his house justified, rather than the other; because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Here are two persons performing the same action, praying to God. But how different before God are these acts! How good, pious and zealous does the pharisee appear! And does not every one consider the publican as “a hard case”? But how different is the judgment of God!

The pharisee aims at publicity, at being considered holy by his fellow-men; he is all puffed up by his sham holiness, and prefers himself to every one, and despises and condemns his neighbor. His prayer is no prayer at all; though he pretends to thank God for being better than his fellow-men, yet it is not out of sincere gratitude, for sincere gratitude is humble and is not swelled with pride on account of acknowledged benefits received. Moreover, his pretended prayer is no prayer at all. All genuine prayer renders humble homage and gratitude to God for His benefits, expresses or implies sorrow for shortcomings, and implores divine benefits; but there is none of these things in the pharisee’s prayer. He makes himself the object of his own admiration, boasts of his being sinless and pious and charitable and shows utter contempt for all men.

Let us now turn our attention to the publican. He is a model of a penitential humility. The humility of his posture, attitude, bearing and words attest his sincerity. His words are few but evince the deep earnestness and emotion of a truly contrite heart. He thinks not of others, but only of his own failings, in order to bewail them and implore their forgiveness. His is a prayer full of humility, confidence and of the spirit of penance. He is sure to obtain forgiveness, for “God does not despise a contrite and humble heart” (Ps. 50.), and “the prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds . . . and he will not depart till the Most High behold” (Eccli. 35. 21).

Let us always be mindful that God does not judge from appearances, but from our interior dispositions, for He sees our heart, our inmost thoughts, and can never be deceived. “He is therefore moved to show mercy only by a heart full of p. 40compunction,” says St. Bernard. “He resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (I Pet. 5. 5). Hence, in heaven only the humble are found. Let us, then, take to heart the admonition of St. Peter: “Be you humbled therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation” (I Pet. 5. 6); and “let us humble our souls before God, and continue in humble spirit in His service” (Judith 8. 16).

2. Cure of the Servant of the Centurion

Mat. 8. 5-13; Luke 7. 2-10.

“The servant of a centurion who was dear to him, being sick, was about to die. When the centurion had heard of Jesus, he sent unto Him the ancients of the Jews, desiring Him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they besought Him earnestly, saying to Him: He is worthy that Thou shouldst do this to him, for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. And Jesus said: I will come and heal him. And Jesus went with them. And when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent his friends to say to Him in his name: Lord, trouble not Thyself, for I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof. For which cause neither did I think myself worthy to come to Thee; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed; for I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And Jesus, hearing this, marveled, and said to them that followed Him: Amen, I say to you, I have not found so great a faith in Israel; and to the centurion’s messengers, Go, and say to him (the centurion), as thou hast believed, be it done to thee. And they who were sent, having returned to the house, found the servant whole (well) who had been sick.”

1. The centurion, whose servant was sick, was a pagan officer of the Roman garrison of the city. He seems to have been a very worthy man, kind and generous to the Jews, a conquered people, and to their religion, as well as a model officer and master full of a kind charity towards his soldiers and subordinates and servant. His first request to Jesus through the ancients of the Jews and his second through special messengers prove him to have possessed faith and confidence in Jesus in a very high degree joined to a humility until then unparalleled. He did not consider himself, a pagan, to be worthy to approach and speak to Jesus or to have Him enter his house and be honored with His presence therein. He showed his extraordinary faith in the power of Jesus, in expressing his belief that Jesus could cure his servant with a single word or act of His will, without either seeing or approaching the servant. This faith caused Jesus to express His admiration for it by declaring that He had not found so wonderful a faith among the whole Jewish nation.

2. In the next place, his great confidence in the power and goodness of Jesus is clearly apparent from his request to Jesus to heal his servant who, being at the point of death was beyond all hope of cure, and his implied comparison between his subordinate authority over his soldiers and servant, and the unlimited power his very request implied and attributed to Jesus over sickness and health, over life and death.

3. His petition for the cure of his servant should serve as a model for our petitions to God. As he considered his prayer for the cure of his servant a matter of great importance to both himself and his servant, he strengthened it by availing himself of the intercession of the chief Jews of the city, whom he believed to possess some influence over Jesus. In like manner, whenever we have some important petition or favor to ask of God, let us call in the saints, who are God’s friends and favorites, or the Blessed Virgin Mary, “the Mother of our Lord,” to intercede for us by their prayers in our favor. In the second place, let us always pray with a great faith in God’s power, a firm confidence in Him who is goodness itself and our most loving Father and Benefactor, and especially with a deep and sincere humility like that of the centurion, which our holy Mother the Church admires so much, that she requires the humble assertion of the centurion to be thrice repeated with the striking of the breast before receiving holy Communion: “Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof; but say only the word and my soul shall be healed.” If all our prayers are enlivened with similar faith, confidence and humility and strengthened by the intercession of the Mother of God or of His saints, they will have the same success as that of the centurion.

3. The Storm

Mark 4. 35-40; Mat. 8. 23-27; Luke 8. 22-25.

“When evening was come, Jesus said to His disciples: Let us pass over to the other side (of the sea). And sending away the multitude, they take Him even as He was in the ship; and there were other ships with Him. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that the ship was filled. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, sleeping upon a pillow, and they awake Him, and say to Him: Master, doth it not concern Thee that we perish? And rising up, He rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was made a great calm. And He said to them: Why are you fearful? Have you not faith yet? And they feared exceedingly; and they said to one another: Who is this (thinkest thou) that both wind and sea obey Him?”

1. The stormy sea represents the world with its temptations and trials. The voyage on the sea is a figure of our life through the world on the way to our home, heaven. Being placed in the frail bark of our body exposed to the stormy elements of dangers both corporal and spiritual, we are sailing towards our destined harbor, heaven. Happy we, if Jesus is with us in our hearts. He is our Captain, His Providence is our Pilot, His words, His teaching, our compass, faith is our sail, its profession, our flag, hope and confidence in Jesus Christ, our anchor, prayer, holy Communion, our provision, the cross, our mast, heaven, which we should ever keep in view, our destiny and harbor of rest and enjoyment.

2. Why did our divine Saviour, who well knew beforehand that a great storm would overtake the boats, wish to start on that voyage? A good and favorable wind does not try the pilot’s skill or merit, but a storm does. Jesus wished to show His apostles how greatly they were dependent on Him and should rely upon Him and have recourse to Him with confidence in all their wants, in all their dangers, in every distress. Although Jesus was asleep, He nevertheless was watching over them, but He wished to teach them to have recourse to Him with confidence in their dangers, in their needs. And when they did so, He at once calmed the storm by His almighty power. Then He reproached them for the want of confidence and the fear that they displayed, though they knew He was with them. The inquiry as to who Jesus was, on account of His power over the elements in fury, proceeded, not from the apostles, but from the inmates of the boats that accompanied them.

3. All physical evils, storms, diseases, sufferings, as well as dangerous temptations are the result of the entrance of sin into the world. And ever since then man has to struggle, combat and suffer to reach his destined place in heaven. Moreover, we are of ourselves weak and helpless amid these storms more or less furious, and we cannot expect to reach heaven by a smooth road devoid of obstacles. Hence our path is beset by crosses and trials, by combats more or less severe with the devil, the world and even our own selves, our inordinate inclinations. Without divine grace or help we can effect nothing. Hence when the storms of temptation and trials become violent, we must at once have recourse to Jesus for His necessary assistance. Sometimes these storms become violent and protracted and threaten us with destruction, and Jesus seems to be asleep and have no care of us; but not so, for if we show our faith and confidence by fervent and persistent recourse to Him to save us, to keep us from sin, He will at once come to our assistance and help us to weather the storm and even often He will instantly quell the storm and enable us to gain a complete victory. If we sincerely endeavor faithfully to serve Him and carry Him in our hearts, we need have no fear, but we should place all our confidence in immediate prayer, for He says to us: “Cry to Me, and I will hear thee” (Jer. 33. 3); “Call on Me, and I will deliver thee” (Ps. 49. 15). The more we have to combat and suffer, the greater will be our merit and our reward. Let us remember the saying of St. Paul, that “no one is crowned, unless he strive lawfully” (II Tim. 2. 5).

4. The Paralytic

Mat. 9. 2-8; Mark 2. 2-12; Luke 5. 18-26.

“When it was heard that Jesus was in the house, many came together, so that there was no room; no, not even at the door; and He spoke to them the word. And they came to Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, who was carried in a bed by four men. And they sought means to bring him and to lay him before Jesus. And they could not find by what way they might bring him in, on account of the multitude. They went upon the roof, uncovered it, and let him down through the tiles with his bed into the midst before Jesus. And when Jesus had seen their faith (and that of the sick man), He said to him: Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. There were some scribes and pharisees sitting there; they began to think in their hearts: Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? who, but God alone, can forgive sins? And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, saith to them: Why do you think evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say to this man sick of the palsy: Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say: Arise, take up thy bed and go into thy house? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, He saith to the sick of the palsy: I say to thee: Arise, take up thy bed and go into thy house. And immediately he arose before them, took up his bed on which he lay, and went away in the sight of all to his own house, glorifying God. And all were astonished; and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying: We have this day seen wonderful things.”

1. In the first place, let us admire the charity of these four men towards their suffering, helpless fellow-man, and leaving their own work and giving their time to the hard and laborious task of bringing him and placing him before Jesus, as well as their ingenuity and great faith and confidence in the power and goodness of our Saviour.

2. The evangelists tell us that it was their great faith as well as that of the paralytic which moved Jesus to cure the helpless sufferer. But before curing his body, Jesus wished to cure his soul, which was probably in a more deplorable condition than his body. It frequently happens that sin is the cause of men’s diseases; physicians testify that the gratification of the passions causes a large percentage of the diseases that afflict mankind. Hence many commentators on the Gospel hold that this paralytic was suffering on account of his sins. Jesus seeing his faith and his hearty sorrow for his sins which had brought on his disease, said to him: “Thy sins are forgiven thee;” thus He first removed the cause of his disease, that is, his sins, before removing their effect. Let us never complain of sickness or any other suffering, for how often are they not the effect or a punishment of our sins; and even were they not, our resignation and patience will enable us to atone for our sins and also to gain merit for heaven.

3. But the principal object our divine Saviour had in view in curing the paralytic was to prove that He could as truly forgive sins as He could cure corporal diseases by a mere word, for He expressly said so: “That you may know that the Son of man (that is, Jesus Christ as man, in His human nature), hath power on earth to forgive sins,” turning to the paralytic, helplessly lying down before Him, He said: “I say to thee: Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.” And the paralytic at once arose, and took up his bed without assistance and, glorifying God for his cure, carried it home. Thus He proved beyond all doubt that He actually possessed the divine power He claimed and exercised of forgiving men’s sins, and thus proved and glorified His mission as the Son of God and the promised Redeemer and Saviour of mankind. Hence, when He first appeared to His apostles after His resurrection, He breathed on them, saying: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained” (John 20. 22, 23), He thereby actually transmitted to them His power of forgiving men’s sins.

4. Let us learn from the paralytic to thank and glorify God every time He answers our prayers. He who is ungrateful, shows he is unworthy of further favors. Let us bear in mind that we can never sufficiently thank God for even the slightest grace or benefit which He bestows upon us, were we even to show ourselves grateful for it every day of our life. He who fails to thank God for His benefits clearly proves that the love of God has no place in his heart.

5. The Ruler’s Son

John 4. 46-53.

“Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee where He made the water wine. And there was a certain ruler whose son was sick at Capharnaum. Having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and prayed Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him: Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not. The ruler saith to Him: Lord, come down before that my son die. Jesus saith to him: Go thy way, thy son liveth. The man believed the word that Jesus said to him, and went his way. And as he was going down, his servants met him; and they brought word, saying that his son lived. He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The father therefore knew that it was at that same hour that Jesus said to him: Thy son liveth, and himself believed and his whole house.”

1. From the above narrative we see that the ruler’s power and wealth could not avert sickness or death from his son, and that youth is not secure and possesses no privilege against disease and death. Had it not been for his son’s illness, that ruler would probably never have come near Jesus, nor have ever cared for our Saviour. But it was misfortune that brought him to Jesus, as it does so many who would otherwise have forfeited their salvation. Hence for him and for so many even among us, an apparent serious misfortune is a true benefit, a real blessing. Let us bear in mind that the only real evil in itself is sin. All physical evils may, in God’s providence, become real blessings and promote and even be necessary for our salvation.

2. The sickness and approaching death of his loved son, perhaps his only son, was a painful trial for the ruler. He had spared no pains, no expense for his son’s cure, but all in vain. Hearing of the wonders wrought by Jesus and of His goodness, he regained hope and confidence, and set out to beseech Him to come at once and cure his son; he first met with a rebuke from our Lord on account of his very imperfect faith, and probably also of his wavering confidence in Jesus, for he thought that Jesus, like physicians, could cure only the sick they had seen and diagnosed. But Jesus said to him: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.” But the ruler, dreading lest even a few moments of delay might prove fatal to his dying son, insisted on Jesus going at once to cure his son, and said to Him: “Lord, come down before that my son die.” He, like many Christians of our times, believed that Jesus could help him, but only in his own way, by going with him to his sick son. But Jesus soon made him aware that he was mistaken, for He said to him: “Go thy way, for thy son liveth,” that is, thy son is now cured. The ruler believed Jesus, and at once set out for his home. Whenever we ask some favor, some benefit, some grace, some one’s conversion from God, we usually expect God to grant it to us in a certain way, within a certain time, and we feel great disappointment, if He does not; we do not consider that God is able to grant the favor to us in many other ways, and that He is the best judge of the way most appropriate, most beneficial to us. Let us imitate the ruler, who having heard the declaration of Jesus that his son was cured, believed Him and at once returned home. On his way he met his servants who had gone out to meet him; they confirmed his belief in the words of Jesus, and the result was the conversion of p. 46himself and his whole household. Hence the dangerous illness of his son proved a real blessing for himself and family.

As a further practical lesson let us consider a somewhat analogous fact related in the Old Testament. Naaman, the prime minister of the king of Syria, was struck with leprosy, and as he could find no physician or remedy to cure him, the king informed him that in the kingdom of Israel there was a prophet of God who wrought wonderful cures and other miracles, and therefore advised Naaman to go to that prophet. So Naaman, attended, in accordance with his rank, by a large and splendid retinue of soldiers and officials, went from Damascus to Samaria to request the prophet Eliseus to cure him of his leprosy. “So Naaman,” we read, “came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus; and Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying: Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall recover health, and thou shalt be clean. Naaman was angry, and went away saying: I thought the prophet would come out to me, and standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord his God, and touched with his hand the place of the leprosy, and healed me. Are not the Abana and the Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and be made clean? So, as he turned and was going away with indignation, his servants came to him, and said to him: Father, p. 47if the prophet had bid thee to do some great (difficult) thing, surely thou wouldst have done it; how much rather (shouldst thou do) what he hath said to thee: Wash, and thou shalt be clean” (IV Kings 5. 9-13). Naaman followed this very sensible advice of seeking a cure in the prophet’s way, and was at once perfectly cured. As for us, let us be satisfied with God’s way in preference to our own.

6. The Woman of Canaan

Mat. 15. 22-28; Mark 7. 24-30.

“Jesus retired into the coast of Tyre and Sidon, and entering into a house, He would that no man should know it, and He could not be hid. For a woman, as soon as she heard of Him, whose daughter had an unclean spirit, came in and fell down at His feet. For the woman was a Gentile, a Syro-phenician by birth, and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter, saying: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil. But Jesus answered her not a word. And His disciples came and besought Him, saying: Send her away, for she crieth after us. And He, answering, said: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. But she came and adored Him, saying: Lord, help me. But Jesus said: Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not good to take the bread of the children and to cast it to the dogs. But she said: Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. Then Jesus, answering, said to her: O woman, great is thy faith; be it done to thee as thou wilt, for this saying (of thine); go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come into her house, she found the girl lying upon the bed, and that the devil was gone out.”

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ came on earth to redeem mankind, with the mission from His heavenly Father to preach the Gospel to the Jews, and to prepare His apostles to found His Church and preach the Gospel to all nations. That is why He did not Himself undertake to preach and perform miracles among the Gentiles. His converting the Samaritan woman and preaching a few days among her fellow-countrymen, His cure of the servant of the Roman centurion and the events related in the above extract from the Gospel, are, if I mistake not, the only cases in which He came in contact with the Gentiles. Hence, when He went to the coast of Tyre and Sidon, He wished to remain unknown, and the only event the Gospel relates of His stay there is that mentioned above, just as if it was the only reason for His going there, and thereby teach us a useful lesson concerning prayer.

2. Admirable, indeed, is the conduct of the woman of Canaan! Like the centurion, she is a model of faith and humility in prayer. First, she prostrates herself, and beseeches Jesus to have mercy on her. Jesus, ever so good, so kind to the meek and humble, seems to ignore her presence, for He pays no attention to her. But she persists, for she wishes to be heard, to have Him show her mercy, by curing her daughter. She persists so much that the apostles can no longer bear to hear her piteous entreaties, and since Jesus pays no attention to her, they beg Him to send her away. But now she continues her plea for mercy, for help with renewed fervor. And Jesus objects that He is not sent to do anything for the Gentiles. She, however, again prostrates herself and adores Him, imploring His help. Then Jesus deeply humbles her by a comparison which would have completely discouraged and even angered any one else. But instead of this she with wonderful faith, confidence and humility, draws therefrom the conclusion that Jesus must not refuse her the crumbs falling from the table of the chosen Jewish nation. Such faith, such humility are victorious over the Saviour Who is all goodness; He openly admires her humble faith and at once grants her request. Indeed, we may now say, “God giveth grace to the humble” (I Pet. 5. 5). Let us, therefore, always humble ourselves and persevere in prayer and we shall surely obtain all that we ask.

7. The Ten Lepers

Luke 17. 12-19.

“As Jesus entered a certain town, there met Him ten men that were lepers, and they stood afar off, and lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. When He saw them, He said: Go, show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, as they went, they were made clean. And one of them, when he saw that he was made clean, went back, with a loud voice glorifying God. And he fell on his face before His feet, giving thanks. And this man was a Samaritan. And Jesus, answering, said: Were not ten made clean? And where are the nine? There is no one found to return and give glory to God, but this stranger. And He said to him: Arise, go thy way, for thy faith hath made thee whole.”

1. Wretched, indeed, was the lot of these lepers. Because of the highly disgusting, usually incurable and very contagious nature of their disease, they were excluded from society, never permitted to enter a dwelling or to approach their fellow-men; they had to warn all who would approach them of the nature of their disease. All who out of compassion wished to offer them food or other articles, had to put it in some open place and then retire, so that the lepers could come and take them. If any of them happened to get cured of the disease, they were not allowed to return among their fellow-men, till they had shown themselves to the priests for examination and been declared by them to be cured of every appearance of the disease and perfectly sound; and they had then to offer to God and to them the prescribed gift.

2. Ten of these poor wretches seem to have clung together in their misery, which they keenly felt. They came all together in the neighborhood of the place where Jesus was, and standing at the prescribed distance from Him, they in a loud voice besought Him to have mercy on them. It was indeed a great blessing for them to have been able thus to pray to Him, for to pray well is a real and valuable science. These lepers prayed well. Their prayer was humble, for they stood far off, as being unworthy to approach Jesus; it was earnest and fervent, for they felt their misery and prayed with a loud voice; it was full of confidence, for they did not rely on their merits, but on the Saviour’s goodness, saying: “Have mercy on us.” It was efficacious in kind, for they prayed in common, and God blesses such prayer (Mat. 18. 20), and our divine Saviour has taught us to make use of it, when teaching us the Our Father.

3. Jesus answered their prayer, making no distinction of persons, nationality or of gratitude or ingratitude, for He said to them: “Go, show yourselves to the priests,” requiring them to show obedience and submission to the Mosaic Law, and reverence to the priests. Their cure was also partly owing to their faith, for they believed in being cured by Jesus and at once set themselves on their way to show themselves to the priests, although they were not yet cured, for, says the Gospel, “as they went, they were made clean.” This shows that their cure was gradually effected as they proceeded on their way to the priests. After they had gone some distance, they found out that their cure was complete. How happy they must have felt, and how great should have been their gratitude to Jesus! The thought naturally entered the minds of all ten to go back and show their gratitude to Jesus. But only one of them gave effect to this thought, to his feelings of gratitude, and returned. And this one was a stranger, a Samaritan, a member of that nation so much hated and despised by the Jews. He returned all the way to show his gratitude, and he did so most humbly, publicly prostrating himself before Jesus, without human respect. His conduct delighted the tender Heart of Jesus. But, at the same time, His Heart was deeply pained at the ingratitude of the nine who would not take the trouble of returning to express to Him their gratitude for the wonderful favor He had done them! The pain He felt was so great that He could not forbear complaining of the almost universal ingratitude, nine out of ten!

3. Among Christians ingratitude to God for His benefits is almost universal. How many ever thank God for the numerous temporal favors they daily receive from Him! How few even show their gratitude for the spiritual favors and graces God so plentifully bestows upon them; help in temptation, forgiveness of sins. How many sinners cured of the most horrid leprosy of mortal sin, relapse into the same sins again and fall even into still more grievous sins after Lent, after Easter, after a mission or a jubilee! Let us study well this parable with its comments and endeavor in future to derive profit therefrom.

8. Cure of the Woman Twelve Years Ill, and the Raising to Life of the Daughter of Jairus

Mat. 9. 18-25; Mark 5. 22-43; Luke 8. 41-56.

“There cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, named Jairus, and seeing Jesus, he falleth down at His feet, and besought Him much, saying: My daughter is at the point of death; come, lay Thy hand upon her, that she may be safe and may live. And Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him, and they thronged Him. And a woman who was under an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing the better, but rather worse. When she had heard of Jesus, she came in the crowd behind Him and touched His garment, for she said: If I shall touch but His garment, I shall be whole (cured). And forthwith the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the evil. And immediately Jesus, knowing in Himself the virtue that had proceeded from Him, turning to the multitude, said: Who hath touched My garments? And His disciples said to Him: Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou, Who hath touched Me? And He looked about to see her who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth. And He said to her: Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be thou whole (healed) of thy disease. While He was yet speaking, some came from the house of the ruler of the synagogue, saying: Thy daughter is dead; why dost thou trouble the Master any further? But Jesus, having heard the word that was spoken, saith to the ruler of the synagogue: Fear not, believe only, and she shall be safe. And when He was come to the house, He suffered no one to go in with Him but Peter, James and John, and the father and mother of the maid (girl); and He seeth a tumult and people weeping and wailing much. And going in, He saith to them: Why make you this ado (fuss) and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed Him to scorn. But He, having put them all out, taketh the father and mother of the damsel and them that were with Him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And taking the damsel by the hand, He said to her: Talitha cumi, which means: damsel, (I say to thee) arise. And immediately the damsel rose up and walked; she was twelve years old; and they were greatly astonished. And He charged strictly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.”

1. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, probably, like the majority of such officials, was not friendly to our divine Saviour; he must, therefore, have waited till all hope of cure for his daughter had disappeared, before coming to Jesus to ask Him to cure her, as He had cured so many sick. His daughter, probably his only child, was his dearest object on earth, and her death he would have considered as his greatest possible misfortune. The dread of her approaching death was in reality the greatest blessing for him, for it humbled and brought him to the feet of Jesus, and caused him to place all confidence in Jesus, as his only hope. In like manner, how often are not the things we call misfortunes real blessings, which remove us from the occasions of sin, show us the vanity of all that is earthly and induce us to seek real happiness in the service of God? How did Jesus receive Jairus? With the greatest kindness and He at once betook Himself on the way with Jairus to his house. In like manner, Jesus is ever ready to receive with the greatest kindness and love every sinner that comes to Him with confidence and humble repentance praying for forgiveness.

2. On the way to the house of Jairus Jesus performed another miracle, which tended to confirm the confidence of Jairus in His almighty power and, at the same time, rewarded the confidence and humility of a poor suffering heathen woman. She had been suffering constantly for twelve years from loss of blood, and had gone to the most skilful and high-priced physicians and used the most expensive remedies and thereby spent her whole fortune, without obtaining either cure or relief. Having heard of the wonderful cures of our Saviour, she came to Him from a great distance. Jesus was surrounded on all sides by an immense crowd pressing around Him. She, full of faith and confidence in His power, and anxious to be cured, pushed her way through the throngs behind Him, with the intention of coming near enough to Him to be able to touch His garment with her hand, firmly convinced that by so doing she would be cured. Her faith and confidence were at once rewarded. But Jesus demanded of her something more, something that would cost her much and give glory to God and edification to the neighbor. Hence He asked, who had touched Him. The apostles, who had been jostled in every direction by the eager crowds pressing around them, expressed their astonishment at such a question, for Jesus had been touched by many as they themselves had been. But Jesus turned around to those behind Him, and repeated His question, adding that the touch of a certain person had caused a certain virtue or power to proceed from Him. The poor woman trembling and ashamed prostrated herself before Him, and humbly acknowledged her disease, a disease held in abhorrence by the Jews, and her cure. Hers was an act of great and even heroic humility and edifying gratitude. Tradition tells us that this woman, a Syro-phenician, was a pagan; that to show her gratitude to Jesus and commemorate her miraculous cure, she had a group of statues made representing the miracle of her cure and that this group was set up in a public place in Damascus, and remained there until Julian the Apostate, out of hatred to Jesus Christ, destroyed the statues (about the year 363) and replaced them by a statue of himself which was soon destroyed by lightning. The humility, confidence and gratitude of this woman are well worthy of our imitation.

3. As Jesus, after this episode, this brief interruption, continued on the way to the house of Jairus, a messenger came to tell Jairus that his daughter had just died, and that it was of no use to bring Jesus to his house. But Jesus encouraged him to keep up his hope of her cure and proceeded to the ruler’s house. There the preparations for bringing the girl’s dead body to the grave, in accordance with the Jewish custom at that time, were already on the way; Jesus put a stop to them, saying the girl was not dead, but only sleeping, which was true, considering He was about to raise her to life. He entered the house taking with Him only the girl’s father and mother and His three favorite apostles, and there taking the girl by the hand, He at once raised her to life, made her walk, and ordered food to be given her and forbade the parents to publish or make the miracle known. Why did He forbid this? First, because He did not wish the girl’s parents to boast of the miracle performed in their favor or of their influence with Jesus; secondly, to prevent the numberless visits they would receive of curious persons coming to inquire and see all about the miracle, and the consequent gossip, dissipation and feasting and spiritual dangers connected therewith for the girl and her parents. In the case of the woman cured of an issue of blood, Jesus demanded publicity as we have seen above, because such publicity would redound to the glory of God and promote a spirit of faith, humility, confidence and gratitude.