Thirteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time B--- Bleeding For 12 Years

[Jail Ministry homily 13th Sunday B]

Under Mosaic law, that woman was unclean all those years.

Twelve years of medical treatments with no cure corroborates her once-significant financial status.

Alcoholics Anonymous refers to, “the insanity of our disease.” i.e. an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences.

Relapse: Each time you come back; the tuition goes up.

But she reached out on her own and touched the tassel on Jesus’ cloak. It is the only miracle story that portrays Jesus taking a passive role in the healing.

I may not be responsible for being an Adult Child of an Alcoholic, but I am responsible for my recovery.

She FEELS her own healing.

As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn.” [Alcoholics Anonymous Pg. 63].

She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”

Jesus heard her interior monologue.

Before you say to yourself “I can’t,” say “I’ll try.”

“As my former colleague Don Juel said so often regarding the tearing of the temple curtain in Mark 15:38, God's power is now loose in the world, so surprising things might well occur.

Still, we do well to remember that the torn curtain happens only with Jesus' death, which means that Christian healing will properly be understood only in the light of the cross.”

[Source: In Touch with Jesus: Healing in Mark 5:21–43 by FREDERICK J. GAISER, Word & World Volume 30, Number 1, Winter 2010].

[Regarding the power of the Cross:]

Jesus is aware that power had gone forth from him” at the woman’s touch—that is, the healer does not remain untouched in the healing process.

It is not enough for her to simply be anonymous in the crowd, accessing his glory, in secret. As with the Holy Eucharist, she must publicly declare herself before him.

Just as we do at Communion, in receiving the Real Presence of Christ, the woman has to make acknowledgement—a kind of “Amen.”

[Source: TWO HEALINGS, ONE BRIDGE by Elizabeth Scalia, April 19, 2018, Word on Fire].

Only God can turn a mess into a message.

Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.

Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

“Your faith has saved you,” was part of an ancient baptismal formula.

In that one word, ‘daughter,’ Jesus healed her shame as well as her blood-flow.

Amen.