Good evening/morning everyone. I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s Holy Mass and our special welcome to all our parishioners, cottagers, visitors and everyone who is here today. Dear friends, every time we come to church we celebrate the healing power of Christ our Lord, we experience His healing power in our lives and every time we come to church, we become healers and bring His loving message to all.
When I came to Canada two hundred years ago, a priest took me to a parish and left me there saying, ‘I will come back in a week’. And to be honest with you, I was so confused saying to myself, “why am I in a French speaking parish. I thought I would go to an English speaking place”. A week later, when the priest came I asked him about it and he laughed and laughed and said, ‘you are in an English speaking parish. You don’t understand them because they have a thick Canadian accent”.
You should understand the difference between Canadian and Americans. If anyone says, “a… it is nice”. They are Americans and the Canadian would say, “it is nice a”.
As we celebrate Canada day today, we thank God for our country and we also meditate on the healing power of Christ our Lord.
In today’s gospel we meet with one of the famous synagogue leaders called Jairus. He came to Jesus kneeling before Him saying, ‘Jesus, have mercy on me. My only child is at the point of death. If you come and lay your hand on her, I believe she will live”. Jesus our Saviour who never says “no” to anyone said, ‘yes, I will’. While going to his house, He healed so many people and before entering into his house, the man’s family, friends, relatives came and said to him, “ do not disturb the Lord because your child is dead’. While Jairus was sad and crying, Jesus said, ‘do not be afraid. Only believe. She is sleeping and alive” When people heard that the child was sleeping, they all laughed at Christ and began to criticize him. Jesus our Lord went into the house and touching the child said, ‘Talitha cum” means my little child, get up”.
In this miracle not only the child got up. Something more happened. Yes, Jairus got up from his sleep, the people got up from their sleep and we are especially called to get up from our sleep and believe in the Lord Christ’.
What happened to Jairus?
Jairus was a famous synagogue leader and he had power more like a centurion in the gospels who said to Jesus, If I say to one, go and He goes and if I say to him, do and he does it. Though I have all the powers, I cannot restore a person to health or life. Jesus you have the power. I believe in you. Yes, though Jairus was a synagogue leader, he did not have divine power to restore anyone to life. When he came to Jesus and submitted himself to Jesus saying, ‘please heal my child, my daughter is at the point of death’. Jesus was amazed at his faith saying, ‘I will’.
When we personally witness the faith of others, we are some times amazed. They may belong to any religion but they way they pray and believe in God inspire us. Once I visited a priest in Mississauga. While we were having lunch at the rectory, a man who was helping in the kitchen left in the middle of our lunch and did not show up for a while. Meantime the priest looked at me and said, ‘His name is Mohamed a Muslim. Do you know where he went? He went to pray. According to Islam, a good Muslim should pray to God five times a day. Though he was working in a Catholic Church rectory, he prayed five times a day to God.
Then I was thinking, if we who believe in true God, the God who created heaven and earth, who sent His Only Son Jesus to us and ask Him for anything, how much more we get it. Our God promises to give us the Holy Spirit- the gift of life.
That is why when Jairus came to Christ acknowledging the one true God; He was instantly healed of his doubts and failures. He got up from his sleep and came to know that Jesus was the Only Son of God the Savior.
The people got up from their sleep
The people who said that Jairus should not bother the Master because his child was dead and the people who laughed at Christ for him saying, ‘the child is not dead. She is sleeping” the people who criticized and went away from Him, when they saw what happened to the child, they all got up from their sleep saying, ‘Jesus, you are the master, the eternal king. You have the words of eternal life. We believe in you. And with you everything is possible”.
Once a group of people went to Jesus to become His disciples, he chose only a few to become His disciples saying, ‘many are called but few are chosen’ and He gave them power and authority to preach the Good News and heal the sick. Today there are so many people call themselves Catholics but only few are coming to church and practicing their faith like you. You are His chosen people. And when you believe, you will experience His healing.
Once a man went to a psychiatrist and said, ‘Doctor, my brother thinks that he is a chicken. For how long he has been thinking this way? For six months. Then how come you did not come before? It is because we needed the eggs.
Getting up from our sleep means extending ourselves to help others and showing others compassion and kindness and helping others to know Christ. Amen. Today as we celebrate Canada day, there is a special blessing for you and please kneel now.
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