“Keep in touch.” A phrase we often use after a conversation with a friend we have not seen for some time or someone moving away or leaving for a long time somewhere. We have seen in the news when a person of position is in town.. for example, Pope Francis, everyone wants to touch him. Studies have been made that tell us the sense of touch is the most important of all senses ..that even one can die if never touched.
In today’s Gospel, we read of an unmanned woman..a woman is in a sense is an outcast because she is suffering from a blood issue for some 12 years and is in a crucial situation.. she tried so hard to find someone to cure her…spending all her money on doctors who did not help her.
She heard of Jesus and in her desperation decided to go into the crowd and touch His garment saying “if I can but touch the hem of his clothes, I will be made well.” So she pushed her way thru toJesus, touched the hem of his clothes and Jesus immediately asked, “who touched my clothes?” He felt power go out of Him. The woman became frightened and owned up to her action. Jesus then said, “go, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” This miracle story shows us that no matter what condition of life we are in desperate financially, spirituality, physically, socially, with faith in God we can be healed of that condition.
We may not be able to touch Jesus’s hem physically, but in other ways we have the opportunity to do so: in Holy Communion, in the Scriptures, in one another. How will you touch the hem of Jesus today?
Sister Celeste Hupert, CSFN
