Good morning! We give thanks for the wonderful air-conditioning that allows us to celebrate Mass in comfort during this oppressive heat. Let us spare a thought and say a prayer for the millions of people who lost power during the recent storms. I suppose you could use that as an excuse to skip Mass, but as one pastor put it: "If you think this is hot, remember there is no air conditioning in hell."
One of the aims of my homily today is to give you something to help you stay cool.
The gospel today from Mark 5:21-43 gives us the opportunity to think about the role and equality of women in our country and world. So much of our attitude is culturally determined.
For all our progress in the United States, women still only earn about .82 cents on the dollar compared to male counterparts doing the same work. Women only received the right to vote in this country in 1920, less than 100 years ago.
In Korea, back in the day, if a member of the aristocracy failed to produce a male heir, there was the practice of kidnapping a desirable woman from a neighboring village to be used as a sort of surrogate mother (ssi-ba-ji 씨 받이) and, after she was impregnated and gave birth to a son, to send her back to her family, minus the child.
Our own attitudes in the west have taken a millennium to change. These were initially articulated by none other than St. Thomas Aquinas in the Thirteenth Century. His theology and philosophy continue to influence church thinking today. In his treatise (De Gener. ii, 3) he states that "the female is a misbegotten male." He believed all children start out as male and then for some something goes wrong and a female develops. Of course, modern science has proven the exact opposite. We know we all start out as female and then (something goes wrong?) and some of us come out male. And we also know that it is the male who determines the gender of the children. How many women were "put away" (a la Catherine of Aragon) for not producing males?
Of course this attitude is very ancient. There is a prayer in orthodox Judaism that men pray daily in which they praise and thank God, "for creating me human and not an animal, a Jew and not a Gentile, a free man and not a slave, and a man not a woman."
Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth would surely have known and perhaps even recited this prayer. But let's look at how he lived and how he related to women.
He was not afraid to associate with them, even going so far as to have a theological conversation with a single (?) Samaritan woman. Wealthy women helped finance the disciples' ministry. The wife of Pontius Pilate interceded on Jesus' behalf. He often visited the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany. And Mary Magdalene, with whom Jesus had a very close relationship, was the very first to encounter the Risen Lord.
In today's gospel, Jairus, a synagogue leader, implores Rabbi Jesus to come quickly for his 12-year-old daughter is near death. And Jesus goes. On the way a huge crowd presses in on Jesus. Among them is a women who has suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years. She secretly reaches out and touches Jesus' garment—and is immediately healed.
Some wonderful things are going on in this episode. First, the plight of the woman. The gospel tells us she had spent all her money on doctors and had not gotten better. Worse, worse even than being sick, is that her hemorrhage rendered her ritually unclean. For twelve years she did not dare enter a synagogue, let alone the Temple. She was not only a woman, but an unclean woman. An outcast among outcasts! No wonder she approached Rabbi Jesus in secret.
Something else mysterious and wonderful happens. Jesus is apparently unaware of her and her plight, but "he knew power had gone out from him." When he spun around to ask "Who touched me?" the disciples are incredulous. "What, are you kidding? Look how this crowd is pressing in on you! How can you ask such a question? EVERYBODY is touching you!"
Jesus looks around until he finds the woman, now healed and made whole. She comes forward "in fear and trembling." Why? Well for one, she willingly broke the law! The Law forbad a woman with a flow of blood to touch someone who is clean. If that happened, it rendered the healthy person also unclean. But in Jesus case, the opposite happened. She was healed. Jesus didn't do this to embarrass her but to correct her mistaken idea that his cloak had magically healed her. Then he bestows on her a wonderful title, "Daughter," he said, "Your faith has made you well."
Meanwhile word arrives that during this interruption and delay, Jairus' daughter had died. "Why disturb the rabbi any further?" But Jesus insists they continue to the house and that Jairus should have faith. When they get there, there is a great commotion. In traditional Korea this is called "Gok ha da 곡 하다" or wailing. The Irish call in "keaning".
Jesus tells them to be quiet because the girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they laugh in his face. He puts them out and takes just three disciples and the girl's parents. Jesus takes her hand and says in Aramaic, "Talitha, kum!" (Little girl, arise!). The girl comes back from the dead and Jesus caps this miracle with a wonderfully human and tender request: "Give her something to eat."
These stories in the gospel are enough to challenge our impression of what it means to be a woman. On top of this, the Church adds the extra mystery that, when God became human, yes he came as a man, but he was born of the Virgin Mary and without any help from a man.
Treating girls and women with not just respect but as true equals, because Jesus did and because we call him Lord, is about the coolest thing we can do.
One of the aims of my homily today is to give you something to help you stay cool.
The gospel today from Mark 5:21-43 gives us the opportunity to think about the role and equality of women in our country and world. So much of our attitude is culturally determined.
For all our progress in the United States, women still only earn about .82 cents on the dollar compared to male counterparts doing the same work. Women only received the right to vote in this country in 1920, less than 100 years ago.
In Korea, back in the day, if a member of the aristocracy failed to produce a male heir, there was the practice of kidnapping a desirable woman from a neighboring village to be used as a sort of surrogate mother (ssi-ba-ji 씨 받이) and, after she was impregnated and gave birth to a son, to send her back to her family, minus the child.
Our own attitudes in the west have taken a millennium to change. These were initially articulated by none other than St. Thomas Aquinas in the Thirteenth Century. His theology and philosophy continue to influence church thinking today. In his treatise (De Gener. ii, 3) he states that "the female is a misbegotten male." He believed all children start out as male and then for some something goes wrong and a female develops. Of course, modern science has proven the exact opposite. We know we all start out as female and then (something goes wrong?) and some of us come out male. And we also know that it is the male who determines the gender of the children. How many women were "put away" (a la Catherine of Aragon) for not producing males?
Of course this attitude is very ancient. There is a prayer in orthodox Judaism that men pray daily in which they praise and thank God, "for creating me human and not an animal, a Jew and not a Gentile, a free man and not a slave, and a man not a woman."
Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth would surely have known and perhaps even recited this prayer. But let's look at how he lived and how he related to women.
He was not afraid to associate with them, even going so far as to have a theological conversation with a single (?) Samaritan woman. Wealthy women helped finance the disciples' ministry. The wife of Pontius Pilate interceded on Jesus' behalf. He often visited the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany. And Mary Magdalene, with whom Jesus had a very close relationship, was the very first to encounter the Risen Lord.
In today's gospel, Jairus, a synagogue leader, implores Rabbi Jesus to come quickly for his 12-year-old daughter is near death. And Jesus goes. On the way a huge crowd presses in on Jesus. Among them is a women who has suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years. She secretly reaches out and touches Jesus' garment—and is immediately healed.
Some wonderful things are going on in this episode. First, the plight of the woman. The gospel tells us she had spent all her money on doctors and had not gotten better. Worse, worse even than being sick, is that her hemorrhage rendered her ritually unclean. For twelve years she did not dare enter a synagogue, let alone the Temple. She was not only a woman, but an unclean woman. An outcast among outcasts! No wonder she approached Rabbi Jesus in secret.
Something else mysterious and wonderful happens. Jesus is apparently unaware of her and her plight, but "he knew power had gone out from him." When he spun around to ask "Who touched me?" the disciples are incredulous. "What, are you kidding? Look how this crowd is pressing in on you! How can you ask such a question? EVERYBODY is touching you!"
Jesus looks around until he finds the woman, now healed and made whole. She comes forward "in fear and trembling." Why? Well for one, she willingly broke the law! The Law forbad a woman with a flow of blood to touch someone who is clean. If that happened, it rendered the healthy person also unclean. But in Jesus case, the opposite happened. She was healed. Jesus didn't do this to embarrass her but to correct her mistaken idea that his cloak had magically healed her. Then he bestows on her a wonderful title, "Daughter," he said, "Your faith has made you well."
Meanwhile word arrives that during this interruption and delay, Jairus' daughter had died. "Why disturb the rabbi any further?" But Jesus insists they continue to the house and that Jairus should have faith. When they get there, there is a great commotion. In traditional Korea this is called "Gok ha da 곡 하다" or wailing. The Irish call in "keaning".
Jesus tells them to be quiet because the girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they laugh in his face. He puts them out and takes just three disciples and the girl's parents. Jesus takes her hand and says in Aramaic, "Talitha, kum!" (Little girl, arise!). The girl comes back from the dead and Jesus caps this miracle with a wonderfully human and tender request: "Give her something to eat."
These stories in the gospel are enough to challenge our impression of what it means to be a woman. On top of this, the Church adds the extra mystery that, when God became human, yes he came as a man, but he was born of the Virgin Mary and without any help from a man.
Treating girls and women with not just respect but as true equals, because Jesus did and because we call him Lord, is about the coolest thing we can do.
