WORD ALIVE

Once heavy rains pounded and flooded a town. As the water kept rising, inundating the houses, a man known for his piety climbed up to the second floor of his house. A rescuer on a banca (row boat) came near and yelled, “Come, I came to save you.” But the man said, “Don’t worry, I have faith in the Lord. He will save me.”

The water continued to rise. This time the man had to climb to the rooftop. A second boat came to rescue him. But again he said, “I trust in the Lord; He’ll save me.” The banca left without him.

Finally, the water rose so high that it went over the man’s head and he drowned. When he woke up in the next life, he came face-to-face with God. The pious man said, “Lord, I have always lived a good life, constantly praying. Why didn’t you save me when I was in that terrible flood?”

God replied, “Don’t blame me. I did everything to save you. Didn’t I send those two boats for you?”

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In the gospel of this 13th Sunday, we read about the stories of faith – that of Jairus, an official of the synagogue, and a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhage for 12 years.

These two episodes tell us through Jesus’ action that God, in his mercy and compassion, always helps. He does have time for people: Big people like Jairus and little people, like the unnamed woman.

There’s another significant lesson we can learn from the two episodes. Both had strong faith in the Lord. But take note: each one took extra effort to look for Jesus. The woman jostled through the crowd to get near the Lord. The synagogue official, likewise, went through all the trouble of seeking Jesus.

The two people in today’s gospel did more than just having faith in the Lord, unlike that “pious” man in the flood who was just waiting for the Lord to act.

The message is that while we should put our faith in the Lord in our undertakings, we should also do our share. In short, our faith should be participative.

To cite some concrete examples. If we pray to pass the board exams, we should study hard.

If we ask God for good health, we must avoid an unhealthy lifestyle, like eating food rich in cholesterol or taking too much alcoholic drinks.

In our country, if we pray for economic progress, we should avoid corrupt practices, greed, social injustices otherwise, we cannot be called a Christian country (cf. Gunnar Myrdal, Asian Drama).

As the Greek philosopher Plato puts it: “Poverty consists not in the decrease of man's possessions, but in the increase of one’s greed.”

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Let’s ask ourselves: Do I always pray to the Lord in my undertakings but fail to do my part? Do I keep on working, getting rich and amassing money for oneself but forget God and the poor around us?

We Filipinos are a religious and prayerful people and that’s great. However, we should translate our Christian values in our deeds and conduct.

As the saying goes, “God helps those who help themselves.” In local parlance, “Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa.”

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