Our Gospel is taken from Mark 5:
21-43 and in this account, the sacred author began with the story of Jairus, a
ruler in the synagogue of Capernaum who came to Jesus, pleading with Him to lay
His hands on his only daughter, who was near death. This only means that time
was of the essence. They must hurry to save the girl. However, as Jesus walked
with Jairus, they had to press through a large crowd as the said crowd caused them
a delay. Then in the midst of the crowd, there was a woman who had been
bleeding for twelve years even adding to the delay of saving Jairus’ daughter
as she caught the attention of Jesus. As Jesus was speaking to her, some people
from the house of Jairus arrived and told Jairus that his daughter was dead. At
this point, the story should end because Jairus only asked Jesus to save his
daughter from impending death. Now that she was dead, there was no need to
trouble Jesus anymore. But no. The story continued until Jesus raised up
Jairus’ daughter from the dead.
If we re-read the story of
Jairus, we can observe how Jesus was taking His time to respond to two cases
–that of the bleeding woman and of Jairus’ daughter. If I were Jairus, perhaps
I would say to Jesus, “Lord, please observe the first come-first serve basis”
or “Lord, mine is an emergency, a matter of life and death. You can go back to
the bleeding woman later after you heal my daughter.” But in the story, Jairus
was silent. He was patient because as a leader in the synagogue, he knew that
God’s time is not like ours. Surely, he was worried about his daughter dying
but he believed that Jesus would heal her, even if it meant raising her from
the dead. At the end of the story, we know that Jesus addressed their respective
needs according to His own will and in His own time and not according to any
man’s will and time.
My dear friends, God’s timing is
something that we Catholic Christians should be aware of as we live our lives.
In life, we have good plans. We have our dreams. We want good things to happen.
While waiting for too long to make those plans and dreams a reality, we are sometimes
tempted to ask, “When Lord? Until when shall I wait?” It is only when we spend more
time in praying and become patient like Jairus that finally we can receive from
God what we ask for.
But it may happen too that even
if we pray, nothing happens. We become discouraged. It does not mean however
that because we do not get what we are praying for, God’s timing is not true.
Rather, it is God’s time for us to discern His will, to seek first the Kingdom
of God and His righteousness.
Let me end my homily with an
analogy. I learned from Fr. Pol Legaspi that Nay Lilia Quimpo Aldecoa was a
music lover. It was also known to true blooded Kalibonhons that Nay Lilia’s
family owned the first electronic keyboard instrument in Aklan. They said she loved
to play the said instrument as passers-by could hear its sound.
My dear friends, music is based
in time. It has a steady, recurring pulse called the “beat”. I do not know how
to read sheet music but I know that time signature gives a song its beat. To
get the beat, a musician like Nay Lilia should be familiar with the note which
tells her when to play it and how long to hold it. But not all in the sheet
music are notes; there is also what is known to musician as “rest” that tells her
when to be silent and for how long to be silent or not play anything. Even the “rest”
has a corresponding value and should be measured to get the beat and to
maintain the timing of the music. In relation to God’s time, there are those
who waited and finally have received what they prayed for and here we may say
God is playing the “notes”. But there are times that God seems so silent, and
those who wait have not received any answer for their prayers; here we may say
that God is observing the “rest”. This does not mean He is out of timing. In
fact, He owns the time and sets the timing. It is we who must attune ourselves
to His time and timing. It may not seem like things are going according to our
plans but we must trust God that He is preparing us for something greater than
what we desire. The only thing we can do is to acknowledge that He is God and
He has the final say. Let us just be comforted with the words of St. Paul
(Galatians 6:9), “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Amen.
