Saturday, June 6, 2026

Matthew 9:23-24

23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.  

The town had gathered around the leader’s house to grieve with his family. There was wailing and keening. The musicians were there playing grief-filled tunes. After all, the best thing you can do for a family in grief is to cry with them and the town was doing that. 

But like the child’s father, and like the woman who touched his cloak, Jesus made his own act of faith. He told all the mourners to go away because the girl was not dead. But they knew better, and they laughed at him. 

One of the things this story tells me is that people of faith should be prepared to be laughed at because we see the world so differently. A lot of people around us have been educated by the school of hard knocks. They are not disillusioned when it comes to life’s hard realities. So, to be a person who frames what’s going on in terms of what God is doing seems laughable. But, as we will see, even those who mourn will soon have a reason to rejoice. 

– Pr. Paul

Lord Jesus, you have always seen things the way they really are. Help me to commit myself to your kind of “realism”. Help silence my fears. Help me to grow my love. Amen.