"Stretch out your hand"

In today's first reading from chapter 13 of I Samuel, we hear the story of the unarmed young David defeating the armed giant Goliath. In the gospel, (Mark 3:1-6), Jesus confronts the religious authorities over the interpretation of what could be done on the sabbath? Jesus enters the synagogue and meets a man who could no longer work for his living because of an accident to his hand. Jesus calls the man to come forward where his condition could be seen by all. Then he challenges the authorities by asking them to declare themselves. ''Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill.'' They remained silent and Mark tells us that Jesus looked at them with anger because of their hardness of heart. He then asks the injured man to declare where he stands. ''Stretch out your hand,'' he says and the man places his faith in Jesus, stretches out his hand and is cured. Sometimes we too are called upon to show our faith in Jesus in the midst of an indifferent or unbelieving world. But we are not alone. During the last weeks, I have been celebrating the Sunday masses in 2 parish churches. It has been a grace to feel the faith of so many people. Let us stretch our hands together confident that the Kingdom of God is present in our troubled world. As we pray that the volcanic ash will be cleared in Tonga allowing relief to arrive, may the ash of unjust domination allow peace to come to all those areas of conflict in many countries.