Reflection
If I can just touch his clothes, I shall be saved.
Mark 5: 25-28
Sickness is the Great Interrupter of life. It enters without knocking, thwarting all plans, mocking the idea of certainty, and diminishing hope for the future. It intrudes like a burglar into our home, touching every part of life.
In this story a woman in pain wants relief. She is typical of countless cases of endless pain and suffering. For twelve years she had suffered and twelve years is a long time. She had tried everything, “yet instead of getting better she grew worse”. She was beyond human help and hope. She was at her wit’s end. As a last resort, she came to Jesus The message of this miracle is that one woman, at the end of her rope, had the courage to step out of normal procedures to find healing and hope. She was desperate enough to try anything. Hoping against hope that He could heal her, she touched Jesus. And he stopped for her.
William Richard Ezell
Prayer
My God, I cried to you for help and you healed me.
Psalm 30:2
Action
How and when should I try to reach Jesus? It was one thing for that woman long ago, but how can I touch him today.
Suggested Reading
And at once aware of the power that had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’
His disciples said to him, ‘You see how the crowd is pressing round you; how can you ask, “Who touched me?” ‘ But he continued to look all round to see who had done it. Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. ‘My daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free of your complaint.’
Mark 5:30-34
When we feel strong doubt and fear and we seem to sink, in the difficult moments of life, where everything becomes dark, we must not be ashamed to cry out: ‘Lord, save me!
Pope Francis
Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.
Thomas Aquinas
Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.
Max Lucado
The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.
Søren Kierkegaard
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
Corrie Ten Boom
Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be a prudent insurance policy.
Elizabeth Gilbert
True compassion means not only feeling another’s pain but also being moved to help relieve it.
Daniel Goleman
Simply by our proximity to Jesus, we can bring hope and life to people and places trapped in discouragement and despair.
Louie Giglio