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Searching: Jul 06 2026
Matthew 9: 18-26
While Jesus was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.
Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.
When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Responding to the Margins
Lampedusa is a small island south of Italy, closer to Africa than to the Italian mainland. It was the destination of Pope Francis' first pastoral visit after his election in 2013 because it had become a place where countless people fleeing war, persecution, and poverty first reached Europe—or tragically, never arrived.
Today's Gospel presents another crossing. Jesus encounters two people whose lives could not be more different: the daughter of a respected leader and a woman marginalized by years of illness. Yet before Jesus, privilege disappears. He restores both.
Reflecting on this same Gospel six years after his visit to Lampedusa, Pope Francis observed: "Jesus makes no distinctions: liberation is generously given to each of them."
Today’s Gospel reminds us that God's love is never measured by power or status. Christ's heart is especially attentive to those on the margins. Today, in that same spirit, we ask ourselves: Who is crying out for dignity and healing? And, how can we respond like Jesus?
—Jill Drzewiecki is the executive director of Casa Romero Renewal Center, bringing nearly three decades of faith-based experience accompanying displaced persons to advance the center’s mission.
Prayer
Between 2013, when Pope Francis made his first pastoral visit outside Rome to the island of Lampedusa, and 2019, when he reflected on today's Gospel, more than 19,000 migrants and refugees are estimated to have died or disappeared while crossing the Central Mediterranean—the world's deadliest migration route. Pope Francis chose to visit Lampedusa because it had become both a place of refuge and profound tragedy. Six years later, reflecting on today's Gospel, he reminded the Church to see migrants and refugees not as problems to solve, but as the flesh and blood of Christ. Drawing from Pope Francis' homily for the Mass marking the sixth anniversary of his visit to Lampedusa, let us pray that we may recognize Christ in those who suffer today and respond with the same compassion Jesus shows in today's Gospel.
God of compassion and mercy,
Today our thoughts go out to those whom Jesus calls "the least among us"—
Our sisters and brothers whose cries rise to you each day, longing to be freed from suffering.
We remember:
Those abandoned and left to die in the desert.
Those abused, tortured and violated in detention centers.
Those who entrust their lives to the waves of an unforgiving sea.
Those who wait in reception centers for so long that "temporary" becomes a lifetime of uncertainty.
We remember, too, all who live on the existential peripheries of our own communities – abandoned, discarded, discriminated against, exploited, forgotten, marginalized, oppressed, and poor.
Give us the heart of your Son. A heart that does not measure a person's worth by nationality, race, religion, status, or wealth, but sees only the immeasurable dignity of one created in your image.
Form us in the spirit of the Beatitudes.
May we comfort those who mourn.
Offer mercy to those who have been wounded, and
Hunger and thirst for justice that restores human dignity.
Reveal your tender, fatherly love to those who have known only rejection.
May we encounter every woman, man, and child whom our globalized world has cast aside. Like the woman who reached out to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment,
May we have the courage to draw near to those whom others avoid.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
—A Prayer Inspired by Pope Francis’ Homily on July 8, 2019