[1]Knock,
knock. Who’s
there? Interrupting cow.
Interrupting co…MOOOO! (Get it?)
Interruptions seem to be the norm.
For me, especially when I worked for the local soup kitchen in Melbourne. I’d
to get to work early in the morning, with the hopes of getting in my office
before the clients were allowed on campus. They’d be waiting me. Before I could
make it to the Outreach Center door I’d hear, “Deacon
Joe, Deacon Joe!” So, I’m standing there, balancing papers, bags,
tools, and my morning travel mug of coffee (Too many
times I dropped that mug before I got the first sip.)
to the cries of “My clothes got
all wet, I need…”; “I
have a doctor’s appointment, can I get in the shower first?” “Someone
stole my…”; “Fight!!”; “Call 911!” No exaggeration.
Now I’m the kind of guy that comes
to work with a plan. I make lists, pile
my papers on my desk in order priority, so when the day begins, I'm ready to
get things done. Then reality hits ... emails, the phone, the staff, volunteers,
clients, and my boss! Seriously, there were days when I’d go home completely worn
out, yet feeling like I've accomplished nothing for all of the darn
interruptions!
I was complaining about all the interruptions
one day to a good friend, who reminded me, “Never forget, the interruptions are the ministry.” Well,
this helped change my view from inconvenient
interruptions, to a Ministry
of Interruptions.
Right from chapter 1, the Gospel
of Mark makes it clear, Jesus was interrupted regularly and often, and it is
not stretch to say, by and large, interruptions created the context and the opportunities
for his ministry. Today’s Gospel is no different.
The main characters in these
healing stories tells us much about Jesus’ ministry and God’s restorative plan.
Jairus, is a synagogue official, a man of position, who has a 12-year-old
daughter that is near death, and there’s the nameless woman, who, despite
spending all she had on many doctors, has suffered for 12 years.
To lose a daughter at such a young
age is tragic, not only because of her youth, but because she would never have
the chance to marry and have children, the ability to bring new life into the
world. The woman, also, was suffering from a disease that made it impossible
for her to bear children, and, on top of this, because of her hemorrhaging,
would be considered unclean and ostracized from communal life.
I’m sure the plan, in the minds of
most, was for Jesus to continue teaching to the crowds. When the synagogue
official interrupts the plan pleading, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please come lay your hands on
her that she may get well and live.” (Mk
5:23) Jesus embraces the interruption and goes with Jairus. While on their way, the nameless “…woman, afflicted with hemorrhages.” (Mk 5:25) touches
Jesus’ cloak, thus interrupting the first interruption, as Jesus senses the
power of her faith & healing.
It is interesting that this
healing occurred, not because of anything Jesus did, but because of the woman’s
faith, “Daughter your faith has healed you.” (Mk 5:34) It’s the
kind of faith Jesus askes Jairus to have, as those from his house, interrupt the
conversation with word, “Your
daughter has died and why trouble the teacher any longer?” (Mk 5:35) Recognize
that each person reached out to Jesus, the elite and the poor, and each received
not only a physical healing, but a communal healing also. Faith (a trusting openness) is a key in the healings and
their restoration to new life.
In the book of Wisdom, we read
that “God did not make death, nor does he
rejoice in the destruction of the living.” (Wis 1:13) “It was by the envy of the devil; death
entered the world.” (Wis
2:24) In many ways the evil one uses our busy lives, our packed schedules, and
even our passions to discourage our investment of self into the ministry of interruptions.
When was the last time you were
interrupted? Was it at work, by an employee who’s not on your “favorite list”? Was it at home, by one of
your children or your spouse while you were trying to finish a project? Was it
at the store, by an acquaintance with whom you really had no desire to
chitchat? Or maybe, it was a detour that interrupted an otherwise well-planned
trip. Life’s interruptions are frequent, and we tend to see them as
unnecessary, bothersome, annoying, and counterproductive.
St. Paul says, to the Corinthians,
by “the gracious act of Jesus, though he
was rich, he became poor; so that by his poverty, we might be rich.” [2] (2 Cor 8:9) When we reach out to Jesus in
faith, with a trusting openness, we not
only can receive healing, but are opened to being touched, to being interrupted,
thus becoming a conduit for the healing of others.
What if we paused to take the time to embrace our interruptions? We too might discover many of these inconvenient interruptions are actually God ordained moments that are meant to help us refocus, reprioritize, or take note of something unexpected, a Ministry of Interruption moment, that God is working in, or through, our life.[3]
[1] New American Bible, Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24; 2
Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43
[2] Living the Word. Laurie Brink, O.P. and Deacon
Frederick Bauerschmidt © 2014. World Library Publications.
[3] LeadLikeJesus.com, “Making Room for
Interruptoins” by Megan Pacheco.
