Beyond the crowd

The story is told about a man who related to a doctor how much he has benefited from his treatment, and how grateful he was. Puzzled, the doctor told him: “But you are not one of my patients!” Whereupon the man said: “That’s right, Doctor, but my uncle was, and I am his heir!”

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In today’s Gospel (Mk. 5, 21-43), we hear about two people who benefited from Jesus’ healing power. One was a woman afflicted with hemorrhage for 12 years, and the other was a 12-year-old girl who had died. In both cases, faith was the deciding factor for the miracle. The woman with her hemorrhage and the father of the little girl went beyond the crowd and stepped into God’s embrace with faith in their hearts—and that made all the difference in their lives.

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Jesus performed many miracles during His public ministry. Whether it was with a big crowd, or with an individual, Jesus always elicited a personal faith beforehand. Thus, He declared to the woman healed of hemorrhage: “Daughter, your faith has saved you.” And to Jairus, the father of the little girl in today’s Gospel: “Do not be afraid. Just have faith.”

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Are you a crowd-pleaser? Are you someone who is focused on what the crowd says, does, or expects? In other words, are you someone who just goes with the flow? Obviously, Jesus was not such. He stood for His principles, and He was focused with His vision and mission, and He taught people, especially His disciples, to do the same. Ask yourself today: Am I just pleasing myself and the crowd? Am I at all pleasing God?

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By the way, crowd-pleasers end up with plenty, but are often empty. Just do or say whatever pleases the crowd and you’ll be okay, right? Wrong! Jesus tells us today to go beyond the crowd and not be imprisoned by the crowd, and stand up for what we really believe in even if that would mean ridicule, persecution, and even death.

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The world tells us to “just dance with the crowd” and you’ll be happy. Not quite. For the crowd can be demanding and can be unpredictable. And the crowd is temporary and fleeting. If you build on the crowd, you will be building on sand. If you build on principles and on God, you will be building on solid rock.

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What is worse than a crowd-pleaser? A crowd-user! We see so many who capitalize on the innocent and ignorant crowd for their own selfish agenda. These smooth operators have the money and they know how to use it. They know how to capitalize on the people’s poverty to promote their power and popularity. May we learn from Jesus today to take the road of respect and sincerity. May we learn to love people and use things, instead of loving things and using people.

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With the elections coming, expect all sorts of gimmicks and methods to get the vote of the crowd. It is sickening and unbelievable what some candidates would do just to get attention and the votes. It is absurd and funny what some people would do to be “in” with the crowd. Some would cheat, lie, bribe, and even kill, and that is not funny anymore!

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Every once in a while, we meet people who are focused, who stand up for their principles, and who serve with sacrifice and with honor. Major General Tristan Kison, Philippine Army commander of the National Capital Region, is retiring on July 12 after “serving the people, securing the land” these past 37 years. This humble, soft-spoken, unassuming two-star general (Philippine Military Academy Class of ’79) leaves the service with not much material savings but with much respect and dignity in knowing that he has served the crowd well. In honoring him, we honor the countless simple people in our government who serve truly and selflessly. Yes, we have politicians and generals, too, who are in tune with God, and who know how to go beyond the crowd.

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The young Titan Kison was tasked by his mother to serve at Mass every 4:30 a.m. in their church in Lipa, Batangas. That was not easy to do for a little boy. According to him, he asked why he had to serve at 4:30 a.m. when it would have been all right to serve at the 6:30 a.m. Mass. His mother’s response:  “If you serve without sacrifice, you really don’t serve at all.” The crowd would not understand that. God would.

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There are two roads to take so that we learn how to go beyond the crowd. The first road is the road that leads us straight to God’s heart, and that is prayer. A person who knows, and who takes time to pray and get “away from the maddening crowd,” will experience that peace which the world cannot give or take away. The second road is the road of humility that leads us to know who we really are, which in turn motivates us to become selfless, sincere and dedicated. With prayer and humility, we can go beyond the crowd, and in doing so, can go back to serve it with more truthfulness and love.

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Think about this: “There are two things that define our success in life—the way we manage when we have nothing, and the way we behave when we have everything.”

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, help me to go beyond the crowd and take the road of prayer and humility, so that I can serve You and others more truly. Amen.