THE GIRL IS NOT DEAD

Hos 2,16.17b-18.21-22; Ps 144; Mt 9,18-26
9 JULY
Every prophecy uttered by God in the Old Testament finds in Christ perfect and complete fulfilment. Jesus is the one who opens our sepulchres. He opens the sepulchre of sin in which the heart is held prisoner in order to give it full freedom. He also opens the sepulchre of death to restore life to our body which is in the dissolution and disintegration of dust. A sign of this universal openness are the hearts that are converted, but also the body in which life returns to life through the omnipotence of Jesus.

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me in the centre of the plain, which was now filled with bones. He made me walk among them in every direction so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain. How dry they were! He asked me: Son of man, can these bones come to life? “Lord God,” I answered, “you alone know that.” Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the Lord. I prophesied as I had been told, and even as I was prophesying I heard a noise; it was a rattling as the bones came together, bone joining bone. I saw the sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin cover them, but there was no spirit in them. Then he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord God: From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life. I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army.

Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They have been saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.” Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the Lord. I have promised, and I will do it, says the Lord (Ez 37,1-14).

Jesus came to open every sepulchre that holds man prisoner: sepulchre of the body, of the heart, of the soul, of the spirit, of the will and of the desires. Only Christ the Lord can open our sepulchres. Only He possesses the key and the omnipotence, the light and the grace to do it. All the others can beautify the tombs, but not free from them. This difference must necessarily be made, especially today, a time when it is no longer possible to separate Jesus that opens the sepulchres from the many that only know how to embellish them.

While he was saying these things to them, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout all that land.

Jesus knows that the girl died for the people, that knows only to lead to burial. But for him she is alive, because He is the only one that makes one return to life from burial and death. People mock Jesus because they do not know his truth. Even today, Jesus is mocked. However, the responsibility is all of his disciples who do not show all the power of his light, of his love and of his truth as the Liberator of man from every sepulchre in which he was locked up or buried. If the Christian does not show the beauty of Jesus, it is a sign that he too has become detached from his Lord. He lives an opaque existence.

Mother of the Lord, Angels and Saints ensure that the Christian is light and truth of Christ Jesus.