Saturday 26 June 2021

Talitha kum


"Talitha kum"  These words are taken from this Sunday's Gospel, and they are translated as "Little girl I tell you to get up". But scholars tell us that the language is more intimate than that. It's like the "Our Father", where "Abba" is more intimate than simply "Father" or "Our Father".  The words of Jesus to the dead girl Bishop Robert Barron translates as "Honey, get up" in Americanese. It's the words of a dad to his little daughter.

This is one of only three occasions when we have Jesus' words in their original language. One is addressed to the deaf and dumb man "Ephphatha" meaning "Be opened". The third and last are Jesus words on the Cross "Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani"  "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me". So these words of Jesus to Jairus' daughter must have struck the onlookers and the compilers of the Gospels as very special, capturing something of the essence of Jesus.  Can we sense that tone of warmth as he gives back the gift of life to this twelve year old, that touch of intimacy? Indeed, it surely takes us into the Sacred Heart of Jesus,  and perhaps we all can, and should rest awhile in that most sacred of spaces.

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