MEDITATION TIP —
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 23, 2024

“Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30)

　At a time when the medical system was not as well developed as it is today and was very fragile, child mortality was high, and it was common for people to die from illness. In today’s gospel, two women were saved by Jesus. One was a woman who had been suffering from bleeding for 12 years and the other was the deceased daughter of Jairus. For the people of that time, illness and death were a part of their daily life. The same is true for us today. Every day around us, somewhere someone is born and somewhere someone dies. Once a person is born, he or she must surely die someday. Humans have a 100 percent mortality rate. But at the same time, since we are born, we must live.

　There is a Charles Chaplin movie called “Limelight.” Many of you may remember it with its beautiful theme song, “Terry’s Theme.” Chaplin plays Calvero, an old comic actor who used to be a great actor, but has fallen into a life of debauchery and drinking. One day, he saves Terry, a young ballerina living in the same apartment, from attempting suicide, and their relationship begins. Terry’s mental problems had left her unable to ballet or even walk. As he encouraged and encouraged Terry, he began to feel a desire to perform on stage again, even though he had given up on the idea. Calvero told Terry, “Humans are mortal. But that does not mean we should say that life is meaningless or abandon it. Because living is also an inevitable human destiny.” With Calvero’s encouragement, Terry was miraculously able to walk again and was resurrected as a ballerina. Not only that, but he also lit a light of hope in his own heart as he tried to live for Terry. When one decides to live for someone else, one can overcome one’s limitations. Finally, in the finale of his last performance as a comedian, the audience gave Calvero a thunderous applause. He ended his life quietly, watching Terry’s last appearance on stage as a beautiful ballerina. Not only “Limelight,” but many of Chaplin’s films are full of humanism and give many people the courage and hope to live.

　Both the hemorrhagic woman saved by Jesus and Jairus’ daughter would have eventually met their deaths. Jesus knew this as well, and he himself passed away at the age of 33. But in the way Jesus looked at these two women, I see an echo of Calvero’s words in “Limelight”: “Just as death is inevitable, life is inevitable, just as it is our destiny to live.”

　”Limelight” remains a movie and a story. But people like stories because people see in stories their own lives.

 　　　　　(Contribution by Father Akabae)