Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 - Tuesday in the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 12:1-4 and Mark 5:21-43]There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, Who touched me?" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."
JANUARY 31 ST. JOHN BOSCO, sdb
"If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." In the Gospel According to Matthew, touching the tassel on his cloak is enough. [Mt. 14:36]. In the Acts of the Apostles [5:15], the sick and lame were laid along Peter's path so that his shadow might fall on them. In today's gospel scripture from the Gospel According to Mark, the story of the woman with hemorrhages is sandwiched into the story of raising a little girl from death. In both cases, Jesus responds to the desperate plea of someone whose situation is lost in the noise of a crowd.
In my own pastoral experience, I have learned that the closest that some folks can bring themselves to Jesus is to the edge of his garment! That might include those who only come to Mass and stand in the vestibule of the church, as happened to me one day. I asked if a lady and her companion would care to go into the assembly since that is where the church was gathered. She replied, "The church is gathered out here, too!" Since that day, I leave the folks on the edge alone. Power can go out from the edge of the Body of Christ! I have had similar experiences with college students whose curiosity and need can bring them close. The students at the Ask A Catholic table on our campus here at Texas Tech are very much at the edge, tassel or shadow of Christ.
We can take our faith for granted, especially if we are "cradle Catholics." Conversation with those who come into the church at the Easter Vigil can inspire us to be aware of those "tassel and hem-touchers" who may approach us. God's power, indeed, can flow through us! AMEN