Arise!
God, who formed us in His imperishable image, did not intend for us to die, we hear in today’s First Reading. Death entered the world through the devil’s envy and Adam and Eve’s sin; as a result, we are all bound to die.
But in the moving story in today’s Gospel, we see Jesus liberate a little girl from the possession of death.
On one level, Mark is recounting an event that led the disciples to understand Jesus’ authority and power over even the final enemy, death (see 1 Corinthians 15:26). On another level, however, this episode is written to strengthen our hope that we too will be raised from the dead, along with all our loved ones who sleep in Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:18).
Jesus commands the girl to “Arise!”—using the same Greek word used to describe His own resurrection (see Mark 16:6). And the consoling message of today’s Gospel is that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. If we believe in Him, even though we die, we will live (see John 11:26).
We are called to have the same faith as the parents in the Gospel today—praying for our loved ones, trusting in Jesus’ promise that even death cannot keep us apart. Notice the parents follow Him even though those in their own house tell them there is no hope, and even though others ridicule Jesus’ claim that the dead have only fallen asleep (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Already in baptism, we’ve been raised to new life in Christ. And the Eucharist, like the food given to the little girl today, is the pledge that He will raise us on the last day.
We should rejoice, as we sing in today’s Psalm, that He has brought us up from the netherworld, the pit of death. And, as Paul exhorts in today’s Epistle, we should offer our lives in thanksgiving for this gracious act, imitating Christ in our love and generosity for others.
Saint Peter Chrysologus
Sermon 34
Every gospel reading, Beloved, is most helpful both for our present life and for the attainment of the life to come. Today’s reading, however, sums up the whole of our hope, banishing all grounds for despair. Let us consider the synagogue official who took Christ to his daughter and in so doing gave the woman with a hemorrhage an opportunity to approach him…
Christ could foresee the future and he knew this woman would approach him. Through her the Jewish official was to learn that there is no need to move God to another place, take him on a journey, or attract him by a physical presence. One must only believe that he is present in the whole of his being always and everywhere, and that he can do all things effortlessly by a simple command; that far from depriving us of strength, he gives it; that he puts death to flight by a word of command rather than by physical touch, and gives life by his mere bidding, without need of any art…
So when Christ reached the house and saw the mourners lamenting as though the girl were dead, he declared that she was not dead but sleeping, in order to move their unbelieving minds to faith and convince them that one can rise from death more easily than from sleep. “The girl is not dead,” he told them, “but asleep.”
And indeed, for God death is nothing but sleep, since he can raise the dead to life more quickly than we can rouse a sleeper… Listen to the Apostle Paul: “In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead will rise” (1Cor 15,52)… How could he explain its swiftness verbally when divine power outstrips the very notion of swiftness? How could time enter the picture when an eternal gift is given outside of time?
Blessed Pope John Paul II
Address to the Young People of Chile (April 2, 1987)
Christ goes into the house where the young girl is to be found, takes her by the hand and says: “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”… My dear young people, the world has need of your personal response to the Master’s word of life: “I say to you, arise!” We see how Jesus comes to meet humanity in the most difficult and painful of situations. The miracle performed in Jairus’ house shows us his power over evil. He is the Lord of life, conqueror over death…
But we cannot forget that, according to the teaching of our faith, the primary cause of evil, sickness and even of death, is sin in all its forms. In the heart of each one of us is hidden this sickness, which affects all of us: the personal sin that buries itself more and more in our consciences insofar as the sense of God is lost. Yes, dear young people, take care not to let the sense of God weaken in you. We cannot overcome evil with good if we do not have this sense of God, of his action and presence inviting us always to put the stakes on grace, on life, against sin, against death. The fate of humanity is in the balance…
From this it follows that we have to see the social implications of sin if we are to build a world worthy of humankind. There are certain social ills that create a real “communion of sin” because, along with the soul, they bring down the Church and, in a certain sense, the whole world… Dear young people, fight the good fight of faith (1Tim 6,12) for the dignity of humanity, for the dignity of love, for a life that is noble, a life of the children of God. To overcome sin to assist God’s forgiveness is a form of healing, a form of resurrection. Do not be afraid of the demands of Christ’s love. To the contrary, fear faint-heartedness, superficiality, seeking your own interests, egoism, everything that can silence Christ’s voice which, addressing each one of us, says: “I say to you, arise!”
Saint Jerome
Commentary on Mark’s Gospel, 2; PL 2, 125f.
“I say to you, arise!”
“He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.” We might wonder why Jesus always takes with him these particular disciples and why he leaves the others behind. In the same way, when he was transfigured on the mountain, it was these three who would accompany him… The ones who were chosen were Peter, on whom the Church was built; James, the first apostle to have received the palm of martyrdom; and John, the first to extol virginity…
“Then he entered the room where the child was and, taking the child by the hand, said to her: ‘Talitha koum’. The girl arose immediately and walked around.” Let us desire Jesus to touch us and at once we too will walk. Whether we are paralysed or whether we commit wrongful deeds, we find ourselves unable to walk. Perhaps we are lying on the bed of our sins as if on a real bed. No sooner will Jesus touch us than we shall at once be healed. Peter’s mother-in-law was suffering from high fever: Jesus took her by the hand, she got up and at once began to wait on them (MK 1:31)… “And he told them to give her something to eat.” By your grace, Lord, touch our hands, we who are lying down; raise us up from the bed of our sins; cause us to walk. When we have walked, give the command that we should be given something to eat. Lying down, we cannot receive the body of Christ, to whom be glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for endless ages.
