Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

Who Touched Me

Last week, Jesus told his apostles, A group mainly made up of men of the sea, Let us crossover to the other side. The simple request should have been well in the wheelhouse of the Apostles. But we heard of the fear that these men had. In doing something they knew so well it should have been second nature.

This week!

The First Reading reminds us that death was not God's plan; he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living ... it was our cooperation with the devil's envy that brought death into the world ...

As I have shared before, as a hospital and hospice chaplain, almost every day, I saw people struggling to come to terms with the suffering and death of a loved one or with their impending death. A common question, almost as if an accusation. 'Why is God doing this to me?'

My simple response was always, 'God is not doing this,' I left it up to the grieving person to pursue the issue. Mostly, they didn't, but sometimes, hours or days later, some would ask, 'What did you mean when you said "God did not do this?"'

Our Catholic faith shows God's loving creation and concern for us all. From the beginning, it is clear he made us imperishable, as the Book of Wisdom affirmed today. Death was never God's plan for us, / and neither was its partner, suffering. / Both suffering and death entered the world because humanity turned away from God through the temptation of the devil. This turning away has dire consequences.

To understand this, we need to remember that when we turn away from God, we turn away from everything good – love, wholeness, innocence, light, life - and we find fear, brokenness, guilt, darkness, suffering, and death instead.

Satan tempted us, and we fell for his lie. One of the worst consequences of this fall is that we find it challenging to take responsibility for sin from that moment on. So we blame everyone except ourselves—the woman made me do it, the serpent made me do it.

Even today, we hide from the truth about suffering and death and blame God for it all. At the least, we accuse him of failing us because he doesn't just take it all away, make it all better, fix it! which, of course, is precisely what he has done, which wonderfully satisfies both mercy and justice.

What God did was to send his own Son, Jesus, to take upon himself the very scourge we brought into the world through our sin. He took upon himself suffering and death and made them a path to eternal life for those who follow his steps. In other words, the very suffering and death that led to our ultimate destruction now leads to eternal life - but we have to believe!

Suffering and death still come to us in this life, but now, hand in hand with Jesus, they lead us to the resurrection and heavenly light. The Scriptures and the saints repeatedly teach us this lesson, telling us to walk the painful journey of life in the footsteps of our loving Master, carrying the cross of our sufferings in faith. Then, we will find ourselves sanctified and blessed, already here on this earth and in the world to come.

That's why people flocked to Jesus. Their deafness and paralysis and demon possession and illness were the sufferings that caused them to come to the one who alone could give health and life. As he took these away, he taught them there was a disease more significant than those of the body, SIN, and health and life more important than the one they were seeking ETERNITY.

This makes sense of Jesus's mysterious question to the disciples in the sinking boat last week: 'Why are you so frightened?'

We can imagine the disciples responding, 'Why are we so frightened? What do you mean? The boat was filling up with water; it was going down, and we would die! WE WERE GOING TO DIE!' And then Jesus mysteriously, challengingly, 'So, why are you so frightened?'

In our own lives, the question repeats itself over and over. But, Lord, I have cancer! So, why are you so frightened? But, Lord, I have heart disease! So, why are you so scared? Lord, we are out of money, my husband lost his job, my wife had an accident, I am pregnant again .... THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED! So, why are you so frightened?

This question brings us to the outer limits of our faith in God. In the face of the problems and uncertainties of my life and the problems and uncertainties confronting the world, why am I so frightened? Do I believe it or not?

This brings us to this week’s odd question: Who touched me?

“Who touched me?” A question the disciples found startling, perhaps even silly, with all the people crowding around him. Indeed, it wasn’t the first time he had been in a jostling crowd that made it difficult for him to move, preach, or heal. To heal – that’s what it was all about. It was about the healing touch of Jesus – and, it seems to me, it was about faith, the faith of Jairus, who came forward and threw himself at the feet of Jesus, and the faith of the woman who was no less bold in touching him. This act was forbidden to her in her condition, to say nothing of the custom prohibiting a woman from approaching a man she did not know. So many people were so close to Jesus, and I am sure that others had touched him, / but this woman touched with faith / caused Jesus to stop and ask Who touched me?

The Gospel tells us that, Immediately, her blood flow dried up. She felt in her body / that she was healed of her affliction. But Jesus stopped and asked, Who Touched Me? We hear that he thought power escaped him; he was not looking to restore that power but to know who touched him with great faith. The woman is aware that she could continue to remain unnoticed or admit that she had been the one who touched him. She realized what had happened to her and approached in fear and trembling. She fell before Jesus and told him the whole truth. She was sensing her faith and fear of the Lord. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

This woman could have stayed in what was familiar: pain, suffering, loneliness, fear, and poverty. Instead, she stepped out with the only thing she had left: her faith in God the Father. The only thing she went to give was her faith in Jesus Christ, not to stop him and ask for healing but a faith so strong that she needed only to touch his CLOAK.

The woman had this infliction for 12 years and had spent all she had approaching Jesus with the one thing she had left. She had faith that if she only needed to touch the Cloak of Jesus, that would save her. And It did. But she also had faith that when pressed with admitting the deed, her faith would allow her to keep the cure given to her. Many of us have faith, and you see it played out in prayer or the participation of the sacraments. But when pressed to commit to our faith openly, are we as open as this woman?

You were born for such a time as this; do not delay doing what GOD puts on your heart. The word Immediately appears 79 times in the New Testament - Saint Matthew used it fifteen times, Luke fourteen times, and John only six times. Mark, however, used the word thirty-five times, and he is the shortest Gospel, with only sixteen chapters.

Jesus invites us to a faith that transcends present suffering and future death. He invites us to the peace and joy of total faith in a future in his loving hands. No matter what we may suffer, even death, he invites us not to fear but to rejoice because our names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20).

Remember that every single person has a name, a face, and a story that is precious to God, and in turn, it should be precious to us.