Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (Mardi Gras Day)
[2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14B, 24-25A, 30-19:3 and Mark 5:21-43]Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.
Both the people who are cured in this two-part incident are occasions for Jesus to demonstrate his power over sickness and death. He has already shown that he can calm nature and cast out demons. But the first woman, whose faith makes her aim only to touch Jesus' garments, is always the occasion for me to tell the story of my encounter with a lady at Mass one day. It was shortly after I had become pastor at St. Ann's in San Antonio (1994-1998) and it was Sunday. My associate pastor was celebrating the Mass and I was "patrolling." Our church had a smallish vestibule and there was a pew down at one end. There were several teenage boys sitting on the pew and I invited them to go into the Church and join the rest of the congregation. They did so in typical, "Aw do we have to" adolescent fashion. I turned around and there was a woman and man also standing in the vestibule. I asked them if they would join the congregation inside. The woman said, "No we prefer to be out here." I said, "But the Church is gathered inside!" She replied, "The Church is gathered out here too!" Well, that shut me up but good! Folks out in the vestibule are often the "tassel touchers." It may be that the vestibule is as close as they feel they can come. I know it irritates a lot of pastors (and officious ushers) to have folks standing in the back when there are places open in the pews. But that woman taught me something about faith. In the gospel, the woman in the crowd is not seeking an audience. But her faith is such that Jesus can tell he has encountered it, even if he's not sure who it was till she comes forward and admits what she did. This lady reminds me that some faith is shy and also that I may be the occasion of something good happening to someone even though I may not be completely or at all aware of it. That's probably a good thing for all of us to know about others and ourselves. AMEN P.S. A very happy and safe Mardi Gras to all who are celebrating it!
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