Beyond Death and Disease!

Monday, July 6, 2026

Hos 2:16,17c-18, 21-22; Mt 9: 18-26

Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ spiritual vision that sees beyond human realities of death and disease. 

The Gospel presents two different stories beautifully interwoven. One is about the death of the daughter of a synagogue official, and the other is about a woman with bleeding issues for twelve years.

Though at first glance, one story is about the physical death of a girl and the other is about the illness of a woman, I believe that both stories are about death. The little girl suffers visible physical death while the woman suffers a slow death in her spirit. In the latter’s case, the twelve long years of debilitating illness not only drained her physically but also isolated her socially and religiously, putting her away from real relational communion with others. The woman’s illness helps us realize that death is not always physical. 

For both of these human realities, Jesus gives the answer, ‘courage.’ While he says ‘courage’ directly to the woman with bleeding issues, he tells the same to the official’s family in a different form: ‘The girl is not dead but asleep.’ What does Jesus mean when he wants us to take courage? He wants us not to surrender to despair because he is present with us. In other words, death and disease are nothing compared to his healing power. Neither of them has the final say when we entrust them to him. 

Here, we may have a doubt if Jesus denies the human reality of death and disease. No, Jesus does not deny these human realities, but he can see beyond both so that he reveals their end. Jesus has resurrection in his mind when we are intimidated by death. He sees healing when we dread diseases. Jesus envisions restoration when we slide into despair. Nothing is impossible for the Son of God, and therefore, what threatens us is well within the reach of his saving power.

Let us pray that we may always find courage in life with the assurance of Jesus’ presence in our lives. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar