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06:16And his truth endureth from generation to generation.
06:30Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,
06:41as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
06:51world without end. Amen.
06:59Amen.
07:31Amen.
07:59Amen.
08:08Amen.
08:34Amen.
08:43Amen.
08:45Amen.
09:11Amen.
09:29And all that is made, then shall all the trees of the world rejoice before the Lord.
09:40For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth, and with righteousness to judge the world,
09:51as of people with his truth.
10:08Amen.
10:36A reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Chapter 9.
10:42As Jesus was saying these things, a ruler came, bowed low before him and said,
10:47My daughter has just died, but come, lay your hand on her and she will live.
10:54Jesus and his disciples got up and followed him.
10:59But a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the
11:05edge of his cloak.
11:07For she kept saying to herself, If only I touch his cloak I will be healed.
11:13But when Jesus turned and saw her, he said, Have courage, daughter, your faith has made you well.
11:20And the woman was healed from that hour.
11:25When Jesus entered the ruler's house and he saw the flute blares and the disorderly crow,
11:30he said, Go away, for the girl is not dead but asleep.
11:35They began to make fun of him.
11:38And when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and gently took her by the hand.
11:42And the girl got up.
11:45And the news of this spread throughout that region.
11:50As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him shouting, Have mercy on us, son of David.
11:57And when he went into the house, the blind men came to him.
12:02Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this?
12:08They said to him, Yes, Lord.
12:11Then he touched their eyes, saying, Let it be done for you according to your faith.
12:18Their eyes were opened.
12:19But Jesus warned them sternly, saying, See that no one knows about this.
12:26Even so they went out and spread the news about him throughout the entire region.
12:33And as they were going away, a man who could not talk and was demon possessed was brought to them.
12:40After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke.
12:45And the crowds were amazed and said, Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.
12:52But the Pharisees said, By the ruler of demons he cast out demons.
12:59Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and
13:05healing every kind of disease and sickness.
13:09When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a
13:15shepherd.
13:17Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
13:24Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.
13:30This is the word of the Lord.
13:33Thanks be to God.
13:38Just by way of a change, we read of a leader of the people coming to Jesus.
13:45Other translations give the man the title of ruler or leader of the synagogue.
13:51But whoever this was, just for once we see someone in authority coming to Jesus in faith.
13:58Not only did this man have faith, but such faith as to believe that Jesus could bring his daughter back
14:04to life.
14:06This was truly a unique faith, and was found in a class of man that was more given to disputing
14:12with Jesus and trying to trick him in one way or another.
14:19How easy it would have been for this man to have remained with his family and servants, locked in mourning
14:25and grief.
14:27But that was not for the man of faith.
14:30He had heard the great things that Jesus had done in the region, and believed that anything could be possible.
14:38Thus decided, he knelt down before Jesus and made his confession of faith in a wonderful example to all of
14:45us.
14:47Like this man and Job before him, he bent down and worshipped.
14:54Arriving at the house, the first thing that Jesus did was to send away the professional mourners,
14:58the parasites in which entered the dead, fraying on the weaknesses of the bereaved and, in this case, probably making
15:06the most appalling commotion.
15:10In contrast, we see the tenderness of Jesus, taking the young girl by the hand and helping her to her
15:17feet.
15:21Interwoven with this account, there is the incident along the road with the woman who had been bleeding for twelve
15:26years.
15:29Again, we can only marvel at this instance of faith.
15:35For having suffered from this debilitating condition for so long, to catch up with Jesus and push her way through
15:41the crowd must have taken an immense effort on her part.
15:46If only I could touch his cloak.
15:49Once more we feel the compassion of Jesus, as he turned to the woman and told her to have courage
15:56and to be well.
15:59How often do we feel that our problems are hopeless, that there can be no solution?
16:06Without Jesus this might be the case, but we are not without him.
16:11We can all turn to him in faith and often our problems are the key to gaining that faith.
16:18Let us meditate for a few moments on the feelings of that ruler as he sought out Jesus in the
16:24despair of his bereavement.
16:27And the woman, weak and dizzy from loss of blood, as she pushed her way through the crowd in the
16:33heat of the midday sun.
16:36Why is it that our faith can be sometimes so very people?
16:44Then, as Jesus returned to his lodgings from the ruler's house, two blind men attached themselves to him, begging for
16:52mercy.
16:54Interestingly, they referred to him as son of David, suggesting that whilst they might have been blind,
17:01they were under no illusions as to his real identity.
17:06Unlike the Pharisees, who had seen with their own eyes everything that Jesus had done, but refused to see.
17:13These men could not see, but yet they saw the truth.
17:21Taking the two men into his house with them, Jesus asked if they had faith.
17:26Do you believe I can do this?
17:30When they both replied in the positive, they were given their sight back by the slightest touch of his fingers.
17:41Anxious not to draw too much attention upon himself, Jesus told the men not to tell anyone what had happened.
17:49But this would have been hard to avoid, for two men who previously had been blind, could now see,
17:55with no hardly something that could be easily hidden.
17:59However, it is clear that the men were so filled with joy and excitement, being thrilled that they could see
18:05once again.
18:07I suspect that one of the first things we would do would be to go and find someone to tell
18:12as well.
18:14However, this was against the wishes of Jesus, who just wanted that they go quietly home and get on with
18:20their lives.
18:22Even so, the miracle was not to be undone.
18:28For the men were not disobedient out of malice, but from the joy of their encounter with Jesus,
18:33and the miracle that he had performed upon them.
18:38If only some of that joy and excitement would rub off on today's Christians.
18:46The final part of the passage falls into two parts.
18:50In the first part we read of the exorcism of a man possessed of an evil spirit that had rendered
18:56him mute.
18:58There is a twofold reaction, for on the one hand we read that the crowds were impressed,
19:03saying that they had never seen anything like it.
19:06But on the other we have the denial of anything good by the Pharisees,
19:11proclaimed that Jesus was merely exercising the power of Satan in order to make mischief.
19:20Jesus would go on to refute this allegation a little later, in chapter 12, 25-30,
19:27because nobody works so tirelessly to undo all the things that they have been doing.
19:34We also read in today's passage that Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages,
19:39preaching and healing every kind of sickness and disease.
19:44There is no way that Jesus could have been a force for evil,
19:48for no one that is evil could possibly have done so much good for so long as this.
19:58Then we come to the comments of Jesus that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,
20:05meaning that there is much for us to do and few people who will do it.
20:13This remains the case today, for with each succeeding generation, we have more and more people on the planet,
20:21but it seems not a corresponding increase in the priesthood.
20:28Today we have instances of communities of several hundred families, not individually, where there is only one priest.
20:37However, priests are often shared with other communities, so the ratio is more like a thousand to one.
20:45How can one man properly minister to the needs of so many people?
20:50Once upon a time, a priest was visible every day walking in the street, going into the shop or calling
20:58on members of the parish.
21:00Today though, you see him perhaps rushing by in the car from one parish to another, catching up with paperwork
21:07instead of attending to the needs of his flock.
21:13Sadly though, fewer and fewer people are responding to the call of the priesthood, and this is something that needs
21:19our serious prayerful attention.
21:22No.
21:43Well, I was warned by It is the name of the church.
21:46That's all.
21:46It's not too.
21:47I have a story for it.
21:49I'm not quite sure.
21:50I know it, and I know it's time for your spirit to go.
22:08Satsang with Mooji
22:22Satsang with Mooji
23:11Satsang with Mooji
23:40Satsang with Mooji
24:16Satsang with Mooji
24:41Satsang with Mooji
24:44Satsang with Mooji
25:18Satsang with Mooji
25:47Satsang with Mooji
26:16Satsang with Mooji
26:19Satsang with Mooji
26:25Satsang with Mooji
26:27Satsang with Mooji
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