23rd Sunday after Pentecost: Raising of Jairus' Daughter and the Woman in the Crowd with the Flow of Blood
There is an old, Soviet-era joke in which a woman is walking by a large throng of people standing outside of a shop. "What are they selling that has so many people lined up?" she asks. Another woman turns around and says "I don't know, but it must be good – just look at this crowd!"
While our Lord was on His way to heal the daughter of Jairus, another miraculous healing takes place as He also encounters a crowd. A certain woman, who has suffered with a flow of blood for many years, strategically moves her way towards Christ with the sole intention of "touching the hem of His garment," which she believes will bring her health and healing.
When she does manage to touch Jesus' robe, our Lord immediately stops – for He perceives someone is now healed because of their extreme faith. The miracle didn't come about because someone bumped Him or was pushed into Him, this effort and objective was deliberate.
We also meet Christ is a crowd each and every Sunday; yet how do we approach the chalice? Is it as a riotous mass, bumping and jostling to receive, or are we solemn and focused by faith? Do we dare approach our Lord and partake of His Body and Blood which, is meant to transform us, or do we just stand in a bustling line to get whatever is being given out?
The Holy Eucharist – this "Feast of Faith" – must be approached with reverence, humility, and a deliberate, focused intent: on the one hand with fear and awe that we are even given an opportunity to dare come so close to God; and on the other with love and joy knowing that the Eucharist fulfills, strengthens, and emboldens us as Christians!
Fr. John
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