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A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him
and touched the tassel on his cloak.
She said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured."
Many of us never would have taken the effort to get as close to Jesus is did this suffering woman. In the first place, twelve years was such a long time that most of us would have lost heart and ceased to hope for a change in our situation, especially after doctors failed to help. If we were in this woman's place we would tend to begin to rehearse our illness as a part of our identity, calling this acceptance. We would actually keep ourselves from situations where we might be tempted to hope for change in order to shield ourselves from disappointment. We would be too full of negative self talk about ourselves to push through the scrutiny of the crowds and then place ourselves before Jesus.
Those who discovered the healing power of Jesus were not typically those whose faith was merely passive. For the most part, didn't simply sit on watch him draw near to them, address them, and heal them, as if they too were merely spectators. Rather, their faith made them go to great lengths to place themselves in his path. If they weren't sure that he would touch them with his healing hand they made bold to reach out to touch at least the tassel of his cloak. They were not presumptuous enough to believe that they could manipulate his power or that they had a right to it. But they did seem to believe that it was so superabundant that no limitations on their own part would be able to prevent them from receiving it.
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you."
And from that hour the woman was cured.
What this formerly ill woman knew was that Jesus had the power to help her. And this faith overcame any potential hesitation in drawing near to him. What do we believe about the power of Jesus? Do we believe it was only active during his earthly ministry and that now we are only able to relate to him as an idea? Or do we believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Hebrews 13:8)? If that is so, then what ought to be our expectations when we not only touch the tassel on his cloak but receive him in the Eucharist? After all, we too have been hemorrhaging our life unproductively in all sorts of ways. God continues to fill us with life, but we keep leaking it like cisterns that can hold no water. Well, if we can muster the faith, and remember whom it is that we receive, we too can be healed.
he said, "Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping."
And they ridiculed him.
Problems that are hard for us are not hard for Jesus. Not only that, he cares about and has time to address them all. Just because he seemed to delay in dealing with the woman did not mean he was unable to help the girl as well. The limits we encounter in our relationship with Jesus are self-imposed. We have filled our spirits with the equivalent of mourners, flute players, and crowds reciting litanies of negativity and self-doubt. The antidote to these things is to invite Jesus inside so he can show them the door and then have his way in our hearts.
When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand,
and the little girl arose.
We are meant to discover that heaven and earth are more closely connected than we usually suspect, as Jacob discovered in the first reading. But we are meant to know that the focal point, the axis of this connection, is Jesus himself, the one on whom the angels ascend and descend (see John 1:51). This fact was the fact intuited by the hemorrhaging woman and discovered by the official whose daughter died. But it is still true today, particularly in the mass. Let us attend to it with spiritual eyes open, and with hearts full of wonder.
Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in distress.
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