Mark 5:36
Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith."
The message that was reported... Sometimes it's true. Sometimes it's false. Sometimes it's half-true. Can something actually be half-true? The reliability of the media (news and social) is something that has been in question quite a bit lately. It's frustrating and concerning. Think for a moment about a world where the media is 100% accurate and unbiased. Wouldn't that be refreshing?
In this verse from Mark, Jesus was asked to come to the house of a synagogue official whose daughter was sick. He stopped on the way to heal the hemorrhaging woman and by the time he got to the synagogue official's home, the girl had died. The word was passed that she had already died and Jesus ignored it and simply said, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." So here the news was actually correct, and still Jesus disregarded it. What kind of lesson is this for us today?
Well, how much weight to you give to what you read in the headlines versus what we are told in sacred scripture and through Church teaching? It might be easier to place our trust in the news because the other voices around us are echoing the same message, but that still doesn't make it right. In the midst of all the information coming at us, a lot of which strikes fear in our hearts, look to Jesus for the message that will always be right: Do not be afraid. Just have faith.
