Week of June 28, 2009

The Olive Branch	Fr. Seamus Murtagh, Pastor
Is It Weakness to Express One’s Dependence?          One of the lessons I have learned from my past illnesses is that I am very much dependent on others. There is a very thin line between health and illness. One moment I feel as strong as ever, next moment I feel as weak as ever. One moment I feel in charge of my life, next moment I feel dependent on others - on the doctor, on nurses, on family, on friends, on medication, on the right type of food. The Gospel however tells me that this feeling of dependence is not something bad; on the contrary it is a first step towards wholeness.          Today’s Gospel consists of two miracles of healing, one inserted into the other, in a sandwich arrangement. The evangelist Mark uses such a typical construction to emphasize a point.  In the first miracle Jesus heals a woman suffering from hemorrhage, who had been to all kinds of doctors, but was no better.  In the second he raises to life the 12 year old daughter of Jairus, the leader of the Jewish synagogue. Both miracles reflect the same message – that Jesus can bring about wonderful transformations in us provided we have the humility to express our need and dependence.           Expressing our dependence on others can always be a difficult thing especially if it has been ingrained in us from childhood that we have to be independent, that we must fend for ourselves, that we must learn to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get on with the job. There are many occasions when we feel especially dependent but sickness in particular is one such time. Expressing our dependence is not a sign of weakness; rather it is an expression of our belief in the interdependence of peoples. In fact, this belief in the inter-dependence and mutual influence of all people on each other is nothing other than a corollary of Einstein’s theory of relativity and his theory of the dependence of all objects in space and time.    Rev. John D’Mello  Parochial Vicar
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