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