Homily on the 24th Sunday After Pentecost. -Met. Korniliy (Titov)

Dear brothers and sisters!

Often, in times of sorrow and affliction, we turn to God with a plea for help. When we are prosperous and in good bodily health, we are little inclined to think about our soul, about salvation, or about giving thanks to God. That is why the Lord, in His most wise providence, sometimes sends us severe trials in life, so that we may remember and understand that God governs all things, calling us to come to true understanding and to find the faith that leads to salvation. Each time God answers our cry for help, our heart is filled with gratitude and joy that, out of His love and mercy, He has heard us. Yet after some time passes, we often forget this, and our faith grows weak.

Today’s Sunday Gospel reading gives us two striking examples of faith in the Savior’s help, through which miracles were wrought: the raising by the Lord of Jairus’s daughter and the healing of the woman with the issue of blood.

Let me recall the content of this Gospel.

When Jesus Christ left the region of the Gadarenes (whose inhabitants had driven Him away), He crossed to the other side of the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee). A great crowd gathered around Him, eager to hear His teaching. At that moment, Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came up, fell at the Savior’s feet, and begged Him to come and heal his only daughter, a girl of twelve, who lay dying. Jesus immediately set out for Jairus’s house. A large crowd followed and pressed around Him.

Among them was a woman who had suffered from constant bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all she had on physicians, but no one could help her. Hearing about Jesus, she was filled with faith and said to herself, “If I can but touch the hem of His garment, I will be made well.” According to the Law of that time, a woman with this condition was considered unclean and was forbidden to touch anyone. Yet her faith in Jesus Christ was so great that she resolved to break the prohibition. And her faith was not in vain: the moment she touched the edge of His cloak, she was instantly healed.

Christ stopped and asked, “Who touched Me?” Everyone was silent. Of course, the Lord knew who had touched Him, but He asked so that the woman’s faith might be revealed for the instruction of all present. The Apostle Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround You and press in on You, and You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’” But the Lord replied, “Someone touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.”

Then the woman, seeing that she could not remain hidden, came trembling and fell down before Him. In front of everyone she explained why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed. By Jewish law she had committed an offense, being unclean, and she awaited condemnation and punishment. But the merciful Lord calmed her, saying: “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease” (Mark 5:34).

While He was still speaking these words, messengers came from Jairus’s house and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any longer.” But Jesus, hearing this, said to Jairus, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be saved.” He continued to the house.

There, everyone was weeping and wailing over the dead girl. The Lord said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” The death seemed so obvious to those present that they laughed at Him in derision. Jesus allowed no one to remain in the room except Peter, James, and John, and the girl’s father and mother. He took the child by the hand and said, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” Her spirit returned, and she immediately stood up. He told them to give her something to eat, so that all might be convinced the resurrection was real. The parents were astonished, but Christ strictly charged them to tell no one what had happened—perhaps because He knew the crowd would not believe anyway and would only mock and demand further signs.

What lessons can we draw from today’s Gospel?

In the stories of the woman with the issue of blood and Jairus’s daughter, we see how God, having become man, walked the earth. Divine love and mercy responded to every human need: hunger, sickness, sorrow, and even death. When Jairus, a prominent and wealthy synagogue ruler, in anguish over his dying daughter, humbly fell at the Lord’s feet, Christ—knowing his faith—immediately responded to his heartfelt pain. The Lord set aside everything else He was doing to go to the dying child. In the Gospel He says, “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15). Here is an example for us: when you encounter need, when you hear a cry for help or soul-pain—go. Leave your own affairs, because someone needs you.

Another truth this Gospel teaches is that only the one who believes can receive help from the Lord. “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). There is no sorrow, no calamity, that Almighty God cannot heal. No matter how dire our situation, we must not fall into despondency or despair, but place our hope in the power and mercy of the Lord who said, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Psalm 49:15). Faith is a gift of God. Even the apostles prayed, “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). Believing, we must turn to the Lord with all our heart, entrust ourselves to Him, humble ourselves under His mighty hand, and hold unshakable hope in His saving providence.

How often we resemble the people surrounding the dead girl! The Lord Himself comes and says, “She is not dead, but sleeps.” Yet the Gospel tells us they “knew” she was dead and laughed at the Savior’s words. While she was merely sick, they could still hope for a miracle; but now that she was dead, they thought it absurd to speak of hope for life. This is exactly how we often behave. The Lord lived, died, and rose again. He tells us that death is temporary, like sleep; that beyond this brief earthly life lies eternal life in which souls continue to live, and then the resurrection of the body at the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Yet we keep saying, “He died, she died.” The Apostle tells us, “I do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13). We hear these words, yet we still weep inconsolably and “know” that the person lying before us is dead. Though the Lord raised four-day-dead Lazarus, assuring us there is resurrection, we still “know” there is only death and refuse to believe in eternal life. The stark obviousness of death blinds us to faith in life everlasting.

But for Christ there is no death—there is only life and falling asleep in the Lord. The Gospel account of Jairus’s daughter coming back to life is an affirmation of life over death, of bright hope over grim obviousness, of life-giving faith over soul-destroying unbelief. Let us entrust ourselves to the Lord with all our heart, and in our soul we will hear His confident voice: “Do not fear; only believe, and you will see the glory of God” (John 11:40).

Brothers and sisters! How often in temptations our faith wavers. How often, when we encounter obstacles, failures, or opposition to our good intentions, we are ready to despair and abandon what we have begun. May today’s Gospel word strengthen us: “Do not fear; only believe!” We must always place our hope in the mercy of our Savior, remembering His words: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matt 7:7–8).

Jairus’s prayer for his dying daughter is an example of intercession for others. We must pray for our relatives, friends, for all who are near and far, for the living and the departed. Christians in the Church are bound together by the grace of the Holy Spirit with strong bonds of love, as the Apostle says: “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Cor 12:27), “for in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12:13). Even when we pray alone, we must realize that we pray together with the whole Church. Our prayer merges with the stream of prayers of our brothers and sisters in the faith. That is why the Lord taught us to pray “Our Father,” not “My Father”—that is, to pray as the Church, not merely as isolated individuals.

Sometimes, lacking true love for our neighbor, people turn away from one another, saying, “That person is dead to me; friendship or love has died.” The Lord tells us: it has only fallen asleep, it is only hidden, but it lives. Yet we refuse to believe and insist, “I know—everything is dead, dried up to the root.” By the parable of the fig tree that was tended for three years until it bore fruit, Christ reminds us that love and life do not die, that everything can be raised again by His word. Do not believe those who say, “All is lost.” Sometimes those around us gloomily declare, “We know nothing can be done; why bother trying to help—this person is spiritually dead, beyond repair.” Let us then remember the Savior’s words: “This person is not dead—he is only sleeping.” His soul has dozed off, grown cold. But if God speaks a living word and we come with love to help, it will awaken! And we are the ones called to speak that word of compassion.

From today’s Gospel we also learn how healing of our infirmities may be obtained. The reading speaks of bodily ailments—the girl’s mortal illness and the woman’s hemorrhage. Notice that in both cases the duration is twelve years. Perhaps this identical length of time points to a common root: the spiritual illnesses so characteristic of mankind.

Our soul is sick with sin. Sometimes it suffers in these sins like the woman with the issue of blood; sometimes it draws near to death without receiving healing—which the Gospel assures us is possible. Jairus and the suffering woman came and fell at Jesus’ feet. They humbled themselves before Him and begged, possessing deep faith. The woman did not even dare to ask aloud; she simply believed in her heart that if she touched Him she would be healed. In her silent prayer she uttered not a single word about healing, yet the Lord heard and answered. Knowing her faith, He said, “Your faith has made you well; go in peace.” If we likewise fall down before God, humble ourselves, and ask with firm faith, “Lord, cleanse me from my sins,” the Lord will surely heal our soul as well.

Sometimes we do not even feel the sickness of sin within us. Our soul has grown so accustomed to sin that we no longer distinguish where our immortal soul ends and sin begins. But the word of the Lord touches our heart, and it comes alive—conscience awakens, shame arises, a person realizes he has been going against God in sin. The voice of conscience grows louder, and he begins to see more and more of his sins; like the blind man, he receives sight. It sometimes happens that a person thinks, “When I was farther from the Church I seemed better, but now that I am closer I seem worse.” The truth is that earlier he simply did not see many of his sins, whereas now he sees more and more, just as in bright light we notice even small stains on our clothing.

Often at confession we repent year after year of the same sins and then repeat them. Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood were perhaps no less sinful before God than we are, yet they desired healing, asked the Lord for help—and received it. We, on the other hand, sometimes do not truly want to be delivered from our sins—that is, from eternal death. Though conscience points out the habits and circumstances that hinder our salvation, sin has become so familiar, attractive, close, and sweet that we forget the Kingdom of Heaven. With our mind we understand and acknowledge our sinfulness, sometimes confessing at the sacrament, yet in reality we lack firm resolve to be rid of sin; we lack determination and strength of will. We pamper ourselves and indulgently forgive ourselves. Yet we can turn to the Lord in prayer: “Lord, I hate this sin; I want to be free of it—help me!” And if, after such fervent prayer from the depths of the soul, we touch the Lord in Holy Communion, He will heal us by His grace.

Sometimes we merely list our sins at confession without true repentance—simply naming them. The sin remains in the soul, and then we partake of the Holy Mysteries unto judgment and condemnation. That is why the Apostle Paul says, “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (1 Cor 11:30). True repentance is a complete change of life, thought, habits, and attachments. If we acted in this way with strong desire, healing would come instantly, as it did for the woman with the issue of blood. That is what we must strive for. Yet often we strive more for outward well-being: to be healthy, secure, comfortable, to live an exciting and cheerful life. Years pass, and we spend our time without turning to God, enduring deprivation and spiritual suffering, wasting our substance on “physicians” for “twelve years” and more, unwilling to fall at the Lord’s feet in hope of healing.

Christianity, unlike other religions, is a painful and severe struggle against sin, tearing it out of one’s soul by the roots. It is voluntary suffering, the narrow path of moral transformation, the aspiration to pass from being a sinner to becoming a saint. Christianity demands sacrifice and ascetic labor. Not for nothing do we venerate the Cross—it is the image of crucifixion, the shedding of blood, suffering. Yet in our weakness we often long for a calm, peaceful life and try to avoid suffering. If there is no desire to fight sin, there is no genuine repentance, whose essence is a burning longing to be corrected, to cleanse and heal one’s soul from sins.

Brothers and sisters! If we continually beseech the Lord for the healing of our soul with the same intensity and fervor as Jairus for his dying daughter and the woman with the issue of blood for release from her long affliction, the Lord will grant healing. For He is unchanging in His desire to heal according to our faith, as it is written: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8). Therefore, following the teaching of today’s Gospel, let us implore His mercy for the healing of our souls. Amen.