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He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum" which means, "Little girl I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. Mark 5:41-42 June 28, 2009 The e19th Century writer George Iles described hope as faith's hand outstretched in the dark. The scene is repeated in thousands of times each day across the country: a man or a woman, any race, any age, any background reaches out their hand and for the first time turns the doorknob to the meeting room in the church or the veteran's hall or the hospital. They are alcoholics or addicts, and have reached their own personal low. But as faith is always present, even in their darkest hour these men and women have found a slight glimmer of hope. Though the world has said, "Give up!" hope has said: "try once more!" Today's Gospel reading from Mark is really two stories, one within the other, of hope and faith. Jairus, a leader in the synagogue, begs Jesus to save his dying daughter. What Jairus doesn't know is that his daughter has already died. Jesus takes the man home. As they arrive, the crowd tells them the daughter is dead and begs Jesus to leave as it is hopeless. Jairus, however, still has hope in the healing power of Christ, and because of this the daughter is awakened. The other story takes place as Jesus walks to Jairus' home; an ailing woman in the crowd silently reaches out to touch Jesus' robe. He senses her faith without words, and heals her. He rewards her hope. We seek happiness in our lives through the virtue of hope placed by God in all of our hearts. Hope keeps us from discouragement in tough times, it keeps us company when we are alone, and it keeps us in a state of reminder of all of God's beauty in creation (CCC1818). It is never too dark to reach out your own hand of faith and hope; another is reaching out to you with faith and hope as well.
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