Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 1, 2012 - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Wis 1:13-15, 2:23-24; 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43 or 5:21-24, 35-43 ,95]If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.
Shortly after I became pastor of a parish in San Antonio, (back in the 1990's) I was on "pastor patrol" during one of the Sunday Masses. My associate was the celebrant and I walked into the vestibule of the church. There I saw a group of teenage boys at one end who were chatting and joking with one another. I invited them to go into the assembly with the rest of the congregation. They got up and slinked inside! Then I turned around and there was a lady standing there with a gentleman. I invited them to join the rest of the congregation as well. The lady said they would prefer to remain where they were. I replied, "But the church is gathered inside?" She replied, "The church is gathered out here as well!" That shut me up but good! I have never forgotten her! Since then, I have been a lot more tolerant of the folks I call "tassel-touchers!" They are the ones who only feel that they can touch the edge of Jesus' robe." They do not want to get any closer, or else the crowd won't let them get any closer!
I hope the preacher at today's Sunday liturgy wherever my Beloved Congregation is in attendance will use the longer version of today's gospel because it includes the story of the lady who had exhausted all the available medical options of the day and had suffered for twelve years. Her line, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured," is crucial. It is an act of faith. Jesus' cloak would likely have featured particular tassels. All the lady wanted to do was touch his garment! The garment would not have been magical. Jesus himself senses her faith and tells her that her faith is what has "saved you." She is not only "cured," she is restored to the community which would have considered her "unclean" because of her condition!
There is a very important lesson in this. The church (and that includes all of us, from Pope to Pew-person) must recognize that faith may not show up in the pew. It may be out in the vestibule. If coming to the edge only is all someone can do, we must recognize that Jesus can feel that. Why shouldn't we? AMEN
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