“Let it be unto me according to your word concerning the Word. Let the Word that was in the beginning with God become flesh from my flesh. Let the word I pray, be to me, not a word spoken only to pass away… but conceived and clothed in flesh, …not in air, that it may remain with us.
Let him be, not only to be heard with the ears… but to be seen with the eyes, touched with the hands and borne on the shoulders.
Let the Word be to me not as a word written and silent… but incarnate and living. That is not traced with dead signs upon dead parchments… bur livingly impressed upon my chaste womb; not by the tracing of a pen of lifeless reed…but by the operation of the Holy Spirit.
Let this be to me, as was never done to anyone before me, nor after me shall be done. Yes, let it be done for the sake of the whole world…but specially let it be done unto me according to your word.”Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), “A Virgin’s Prayer, In Defense of Humility,” Watch for the Light, p.41.
Maybe it’s a stretch but for me Bernard’s visceral words strike me as an appropriate introduction to today’s Gospel. Let him be, not only to be heard with the ears… but to be seen with the eyes, touched with the hands and borne on the shoulders. Usually, when we hear this Gospel, we focus on the woman’s healing and the little girl’s resuscitation, but for Mark, those are just the backdrop to what’s going on. Note that in his account, Mark mentions touching seven times. (Mark 5:21-43)
Today’s Gospel is built around two subjects: a father’s request for the healing of the daughter of a synagogue official, and the healing of the woman with a chronic hemorrhage. In between the father’s request and the girl’s rising, Mark makes a distinction between "meaningless” and “healing” touch. Meaningless touch occurs when a group becomes a crowd and tries to move en masse. The crowd’s attention is focused on its goal and who bumps into whom is incidental and means nothing. That’s how the disciples saw this walk with Jesus; they were on the way to the synagogue official’s house and their intention was to remain near and see what would happen. Jostling was inconsequential as long as they could maintain a good viewing position.
But the heart of the story focused on the woman they didn’t even notice, the one who had suffered for 12 years...symbolically, forever. Mark subtly takes us through her journey of faith. First, she had heard about Jesus. What she heard sparked her hope and sparked her faith. Like someone who approaches God based on word of mouth, second hand, rather than personal knowledge, there is a pivot point at which time believing becomes knowing. Without concern for personal safety, she pushed through the throng of men and snuck up behind Jesus... knowing that simply touching his cloak would save her. Just coming in contact with him healed her infirmity.
In our Gospel Jesus was not teaching theology or representing an invisible miracle-working deity; Jesus was bringing people into the real presence of his loving Father's kingdom by which all things were possible.
Let him be, not only to be heard with the ears… but to be seen with the eyes, touched with the hands and borne on the shoulders.
Jesus perceived that someone in the crowd had touched him... for who he was, to enter into personal relationship with him. By calling her “daughter,” Jesus assured her that she could go in peace, her affliction was healed by her faith.
The bold woman Jesus called “daughter,” reminds us that if we will risk reaching out in hope, the results can be beyond our imagining just another curious onlooker in the bustling crowd. She sought him out and her faith was so strong that she believed that simply touching Jesus’ garment she would be cured.
(adapted from the “Power of Touch," Mary M. McGlone, CSJ NCR, June 15-28, 2018)
(adapted from the “Power of Touch," Mary M. McGlone, CSJ NCR, June 15-28, 2018)
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