Trinity XXIV- Matthew 9:18-26

 For the Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity, the Gospel is from St. Matthew 9:18-26. The selection contains two intertwined examples of Christ's healing power. He heals two frail human beings- one young and rich and one older and poorer. The account begins with the synagogue official whose daughter is at the point of death. In response to the father's urgent appeal, Jesus sets out to see the girl. Along the way, a woman who has had a bleeding problem for twelve years reaches out for what she hopes will be an anonymous cure. Jesus notices her touch and says that her faith has enabled her healing. At the synagogue ruler's house, the situation is serious. The daughter seems to have died, and public mourning has already begun. Jesus, however, puts a stop to the mourning and lifts the girl up from her deathbed. 

 In these two situations, we see different examples of illness and human desperation: the urgent illness of the official's daughter and the chronic condition of the older woman. Jesus brings divine grace to both cases of human need. In both cases, Christ heals, but in order for healing to happen, faith is necessary. The faith of both the girl's father and the afflicted woman in Jesus Christ opens the way for divine power to work. Whatever our frailties- of body, mind, or soul- faith in Christ opens us to His restorative work.