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From: Matthew 9:18-26

The Raising of Jairus' Daughter

[18] While He (Jesus) was speaking to them, behold, a ruler came in and
knelt before Him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay
Your hand on her, and she will live." [19] And Jesus rose and followed
him, with His disciples.

The Curing of the Woman with a Hemorrhage

[20] And behold, a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve
years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment;
[21] for she said to herself, "If I only touch His garment, I shall be
made well." [22] Jesus turned, and seeing her He said, "Take heart,
daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was
made well. [23] And when Jesus came to the ruler's house, and saw the
flute players, and the crowd making a tumult, [24] He said, "Depart;
for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at Him.
[25] But when the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took her
by the hand, and the girl arose. [26] And the report of this went
through all that district.

Commentary:

18-26. Here are two miracles which occur almost simultaneously. From
parallel passages in Mark (5:21-43) and Luke (8:40-56) we know that the
"ruler" (of the synagogue) referred to here was called Jairus. The
Gospels report Jesus raising three people to life--this girl, the son
of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus. In each case the identity of the
person is clearly given.

This account shows us, once again, the role faith plays in Jesus'
saving actions. In the case of the woman with the hemorrhage we should
note that Jesus is won over by her sincerity and faith: she does not
let obstacles get in her way. Similarly, Jairus does not care what
people will say; a prominent person in his city, he humbles himself
before Jesus for all to see.

18. "Knelt before Him": the eastern way of showing respect to God or to
important people. In the liturgy, especially in the presence of the
Blessed Eucharist, reverences are a legitimate and appropriate external
sign of internal faith and adoration.

23. "The flute players": engaged to provide music at wakes and
funerals.

24. "Depart, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping": Jesus says the
same thing about Lazarus: "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I
go to awaken him" (John 11:11).

Although Jesus speaks of sleep, there is no question of the girl--or
Lazarus, later--not being dead. For our Lord there is only one true
death--that of eternal punishment (cf. Matthew 10:28).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Genesis 28:10-22a

Jacob's Dream

[10] Jacob left Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. [11] And he came to a
certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking
one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in
that place to sleep. [12] And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on
the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of
God were ascending and descending on it! [13] And behold, the Lord stood
above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the
God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your
descendants; [14] and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth,
and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and
to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the
earth bless themselves. [15] Behold, I am with you and will keep you
wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave
you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you." [16] Then Jacob
awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did
not know it." [17] And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place!
This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

[18] So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone which he had
put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of
it. [19] He called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the city
was Luz at the first. [20] Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be
with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to
eat and clothing to wear, [21] so that I come again to my father's house in
peace, then the Lord shall be my God, [22a] and this stone, which I have
set up for a pillar, shall be God's house."

Commentary:

28:10-22 The narrative continues with this scene which deals with the first
appearance of God to Jacob, when he confirms to him the promise he made to
Abraham; it also recalls the foundation of the shrine at Bethel.

It is significant that these events occur in Canaan, the land of the promise
and the land to which Jacob and his sons will later have reason to return.
After the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of the land, the Israelites
consulted Yahweh at Bethel (cf. Judg 20:18, 26-28); and after the division
of the country into two kingdoms, on the death of Solomon, Bethel became one
of the main religious shrines of the Northern kingdom (cf. 1 Kings 12:26-33).

In the context in which it appears here, the account of Jacob's dream shows
how the patriarch, strengthened by God who has revealed to him his plan, is
now able to face the long years which he will have to spend away from the
promised land. The Lord will not appear to him again until he returns (cf.
32:22-32). The Lord does the same thing with us, sometimes allowing quite a
time to go by when we do not feel his presence. "You told me that God
sometimes fills you with light for a while and sometimes does not. I
reminded you, firmly, that the Lord is always infinitely good. That is why
those moments of light are enough to help you carry on; but the times when
you see no light are good for you too, and make you more faithful" ([St] J.
Escriva. Furrow. 341).

28:12. As described in the biblical text, the ladder which Jacob sees in his
dream (which might have been like the staircases in Mesopotamian or Egyptian
temples, copied in turn in the shrines of Canaan) is filled with deep
symbolism: it is the link between heaven and earth. Some Fathers of the
Church interpret this ladder as being divine providence, which reaches earth
through the ministry of angels; others see it as a sign of the Incarnation
of Christ (who is of the line of Jacob), for the Incarnation is truly the
time when divine and human join, since Christ is true God and true man.

In St John's Gospel we see Jacob's dream fulfilled in the glorification of
Jesus through his death on the cross: "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will
see heaven opened, and the angels or God ascending and descending upon the
Son of man" (Jn 1:5 1). And so other prominent interpreters see Jacob's
ladder as representing the cross, whereby Christ and Christians attain the
glory of heaven. St Bernard applied the symbolism of the ladder to the
Blessed Virgin: "She is the ladder of Jacob, which has twelve rungs,
counting the two sides. The right-hand side is disdain for oneself out of
love for God; the left-hand side is disdain for the world, for love for the
Kingdom. The ascent up its twelve rungs represents the degrees of humility.
[...] By these rungs angels ascend and men are raised up..." ("Sermo ad
Beatam Virginem", 4).

28:14. Once more, divine revelation makes it clear that the reason for
choosing the people of Israel (a choice now confirmed to Jacob) is to have
the blessing of God reach all nations (cf. 12:3), and to let all men,
created as they are in God's image and likeness (cf. 1:26), benefit from
that choice. The fact that God chose one people does not mean that he has
put a limit on his goodness; it is simply the way that he, the Creator of
all, chose to make his fatherly call reach the ears of all. "Connected with
the mystery of creation is the "mystery of the election", which in a special
way shaped the history of the people whose spiritual father is Abraham by
virtue of his faith. Nevertheless, through this people which journeys
forward through the history both of the Old Covenant and of the New, that
mystery of election refers to every man and woman, to the whole great human
family. 'I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have
continued my faithfulness to you' (Jer 31:3)" ("Dives in Misericordiae", 4).

28:20. St John Chrysostom comments that the words "will give me bread to
eat" were endorsed by Jesus in the Our Father: "Give us this day our daily
bread": "Let us request of him no material things beyond this. I mean, it
would be quite inappropriate to ask of such a generous giver, who enjoys
such an abundance of power, things that will dissolve with this present life
and undergo great transformation and decay. All such things are, in fact,
human, whether you refer to wealth, or power, or human glory. Let us instead
ask for what lasts forever, for what is permanent' ("Homiliae in Genesim",
54, 5).