Benedictine Sisters of FL

Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889

Hemorrhagic Woman

Ten Hugs a Day for Well-being

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This is a remarkable Gospel – actually two blended stories – that unfold in a most interesting way.  The story of Jesus healing the woman with the 12-year hemorrhages is sandwiched in the middle of the story of Jesus healing Jairus’ daughter. Seems a shame that lectors have the option of omitting the sandwiched story – the one about the lady with the 12-year hemorrhage.

One common thread in the appeals for healing are made directly to Jesus IN DESPERATION.   Jairus, one of the most important people in town, makes a scene in front of Jesus.  The ill woman calls attention to herself when she replies to Jesus’ inquiry: “Who touched me.”  It does not matter – they are desperate.  Jesus is their ONLY and LAST HOPE.

“My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” And afterwards, when Jesus walks into the little girl’s room and heals her, Mark tells us that the first thing he did was: “He took her by the hand and said to her, “Telitha cum.”  (“Little girl, get up!”)  Jesus tells them to give her something to eat. This twelve year-old is, after all, a growing girl.

A similar thing happens when Jesus heals the woman suffering from hemorrhages. This time however notice that it is the woman herself who takes the initiative to get close enough to Jesus, saying: “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”   Is this not also the case today? This is not some kind of magic or superstition happening here. No! Rather, it is by now an established fact that when humans are appropriately touched the body releases healing endorphins by the pituitary gland. That is why some say we need at least ten hugs every day for our health and well-being.

In the case of the woman with the hemorrhages, after Jesus realized that someone in the crowd had touched him and power had gone forth from him, he wants to know who did touch him. The woman comes to him in fear and trembling. Her life would have been a very lonely one filled with one rejection after another. Like Jairus she comes directly to Jesus in despair, desperation and humility. The Cistercian abbot Eugene Boylan talks about humility this way: “Humility is the one thing we need, and Saint Benedict knew it.  If you get humility, God can pour all his graces into your soul.  Our Lord can live his life in you.  God can look down at you in everything you do and say: “This is my beloved (Child), in whom I am well pleased….”

Another similarity is that in these stories Jesus speaks directly to those who are healed.  He says nothing in response to the question posed about the woman by the religious leaders, but he does make a statement.  He starts writing with his finger in the dirt.  Slowly Jesus is left alone with the woman. Jesus stands up and says directly to the woman: “DAUGHTER, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed.” Jesus concludes by blessing her with peace, which in the biblical sense, means complete health and wholeness, confirming to this new daughter, and to the crowd as well, that her disease had been healed completely.

Today we pray: Give us the insight, O God, to recognize your voice, to reach out in confidence for your healing touch and trustingly respond to your invitation: “Get up.”  We say with the psalmist: “A great prophet has risen among us.  The right hand of God feeds us; He answers al our needs.  He is near to all who call upon him.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

 

Enjoy a peaceful, safe and enjoyable 4th of July!

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If I But Touch His Garment, I Will Be Cured

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In this Sunday’s Gospel we have one of Jesus’ healing miracles.  It’s REAL, it’s not one of Jesus parables.  It concludes with Jesus insisting that the on-lookers tell no one.  But, doesn’t it seem to you that it would be impossible to obey?  To hide what some refer to as “a messianic secret”?

Have you ever experienced the desperate feeling of the hemorrhagic woman – or known someone who did, or does?  The feeling like the bucket of life has a hole in it?  That it leaks faster than you (or the person you are thinking of) can fill it?  No matter what you do, how hard you work, where you go, what you try, you just can’t fill it up.  Work, leisure activities, friends, family, community and even prayer somehow leave you feeling empty, restless, and searching.  You can’t seem to collect enough in your bucket.  The outpouring is greater than the inflow.  You are left drained – tired and weak, frustrated and hopeless, angry and resentful, sorrowful and grieving, full of fear that you will never be as fulfilled as you figured you would be by the age you are now.  If you know what that’s like, perhaps you know how the hemorrhaging woman felt.

In the Gospel, we don’t know her name.  We don’t know where she came from.  She’s just another face in the crowd.  What we do know is that she is sick, desperate, and in need.  She has been bleeding for 12 years.  That’s 4,380 days.  In all that time no one has been able to help her.  She’s spent all she had – energy as well as money.  She’s only gotten worse.  Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year it’s been the same.

This woman’s condition is more than physical.  She’s losing more than blood.  She’s losing her life: its warmth, vitality, and fruitfulness.  That is more than a physical condition – it’s a spiritual matter, too.

At one level this is a story of just one woman.  Looked at from another level, it’s our human story.  Her story is our story.  It’s not only about women.  It is as much about men.  Drained of life, we go through the motions.  We’re alive but not really living.  Such people feel disconnected, isolated, and alone.

I suspect the bleeding women spent many of the last 4,380 days thinking, “As soon as.…”  This particular day, however, something is different.  Something in her has changed, it’s shifted.  She has heard about Jesus.  She’s heard about his miracles.  How he’s cast out demons, healed the sick, calmed the sea.

We don’t know what it is she’s heard about Jesus but it was enough to make her believe in him.  She was desperate.  She can’t wait any longer for others to fix her life.  Today she would not allow fear to discourage her.  She’d risk the crowd’s ridicule.  She’d literally take matters into her own hands.  In her heart she knows, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”

Instantly a connection is made and a relationship recognized.  Life no longer leaked out of her.  No, not now.  Life was flowing into her, filling her with confidence and the warm touch of a love recognized.  And, Jesus knew that power had flowed out of Him.  “Who touched my clothes?”  For us, we may need professional help, or a spiritual director, or a close friend to help us through the maze, but Jesus does offer each of us “life without hemorrhaging.”  We don’t have to live drained of life.  We, too, can walk the path of peace fully alive if we but risk reaching beyond the circumstances of our lives.

As Penelope Wilcock has Jesus saying in her book Into the Heart of Advent: “Someone coming close to me, and touching me, can happen in a church undeniably.  But it might not, and it can equally happen anywhere else.  If you’re looking for me, sooner or later you’ll find me, because I’ll be looking for you too.  We’ll find each other wherever you happen to be” (page 64).  These very attributes and characteristics of his life are the garment he wears.  And, the garment is gently blown by the breeze of love, flowing out, wavering right in front of us.  We just have to reach out to touch.  The woman said: “If I but touch his garment, I will be cured.”

When you feel you are living a drained life, call upon this woman in the crowd to intercede for courage to reach out and touch the clothes of Christ.  Do whatever it takes to let Jesus transfuse you with his life, love, and power.   Touch and be healed and go in peace.  [Taken from THIS DAY, 13th Sunday 2015.]  I have a plaque in my office that’s a good reminder for moments of uncertainty; moments when our last, and best, choice is to “reach out and touch His garment.”  It reads: “Sometimes, you just have to take the leap, and build your wings on the way down.”

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress

 

First Reading   Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24          Second Reading  2 Cor 8:7,9,13-15
Gospel Reading   Mark 5:21-43 ( shorter form, Mark 5:21-24,35b-43)
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Ever brought to your knees?

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This Gospel reports two stories of healing.  One story tells us about a father’s great love for his dying daughter.  The other story, the one I have chosen to focus on, tells us about a desperate woman who risks much in a courageous act of faith to seek healing from Jesus.  This woman has lost everything to find a cure to a condition that has separated her from the community.  We women can commiserate with her.  We may have memories of “those days” or know someone who understood why some referred to a woman’s “gift of God” as “the curse of Eve.”

This woman’s is a true story, not one of Jesus parables.  This woman had suffered from bleeding for 12 long years.  Whether this hemorrhaging was constant or irregular, it caused the woman much suffering, and with the loss of blood much weakness as well.  She also suffered a great deal at the hands of the many doctors she consulted for a cure.  Not only didn’t she get better, she actually got worse.  In addition, she didn’t have good health insurance so now she was broke and wasn’t eligible for food stamps.

We need to realize, too, that this woman would have been quite isolated:  lonely, shunned and shamefully treated because she was considered ceremonially unclean under the Law of Moses.  She could never perform the rituals that would have reconnected her with society.

What a suffering!  Broke.  Required to live as unclean, in isolation and shame.  She had very little hope for a better future.

I have to tell you, earlier in the week I had gotten this far in putting thoughts on paper when God literally dropped a reflection on this Scriptural episode into my lap …  the book I’m reading here in chapel by Basil Pennington, fell open to a chapter entitled “Who Touched Me.”   Here is an adapted summary of Pennington’s reflection.

Jesus was setting out for the house of Jariaus where he had promised to see the desperate man’s daughter.  He and his apostles are being knocked about from every side.  Suddenly Jesus stops and asks: “Who touched me?”

Peter in his usual obtuse way responds: How can you ask, who touched me?  Everyone is touching us.  Everybody is pushing us about.

 On our part (says Pennington) The increase of media and people contact – the over-scheduled day, the relentless demands on our time – almost necessarily means a decrease in spiritual contact, unless all our contact is grounded in contemplation and the operation of the gifts of the Spirit that are set free to work in our lives by contemplative prayer.

 We do not need to go out and about to find meaning.  It is all here within.  And when we go out, we find the same Reality.  Whether within or without, it fills us with presence, joy, and completeness.  Grounded in prayer, we can truly touch the lives of others and be touched by them. (Basil Pennington)

So, it seems to me, the final fact in the woman’s story – remember it’s a true story – is Jesus’ affirmation of her faith and daring.  Jesus knew she had touched him and his power had healed her.  The woman knew what had happened.  The power of the miracle dropped her to her knees.  The response of Jesus is so encouraging.  He calls her “daughter” affirming that she is very precious to him.  He reminds her: your faith has healed you.”  Many others that day touched Jesus, jostled him, shoved him but only this one woman touched Jesus with faith.  Finally Jesus tells her: Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

What incident in your life brought you to your knees knowing that you were healed … and more than that, assured that you are loved?

~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, Prioress
First Reading  Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24     Second Reading 2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15
Gospel Mark 5:21-43 ( shorter form, Mark 5:21-24,35b-43)

 

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13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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jesus-heals-womanWe’ve just heard a story of healing that occurred because an ailing woman took a huge leap, a step forward, in faith.  In tomorrow’s Gospel you will hear a second healing miracle that concludes with Jesus insisting the on-lookers tell no one.  But, it seems to be impossible to obey what some refer to as “a messianic secret.”  Jesus seems to be telling us that each individual, each of us, must in the end, make our own act of affirmation that Jesus is our Savior.

Have you ever felt like the hemorrhagic woman – or known someone who did, or does?  Feeling like the bucket of life has a hole in it? That it leaks faster than you (or the person you are thinking of) can fill it? No matter what you do, how hard you work, where you go, what you try, you just can’t fill it up. Work, play, friends, family, community and even prayer somehow leave you feeling empty, restless, and searching. You can’t seem to get enough in your bucket. The outflow is greater than the inflow. You are left drained –  tired and weak, frustrated and hopeless, angry and resentful, sorrowful and grieving, fearful that you will never be as fulfilled as you figured you would be by the age you are. If you know what that is like, perhaps you know how hemorrhaging woman felt.

In the Gospel, we don’t know her name. We don’t know where she came from. She’s anonymous; just another face in the crowd. What we do know is that she is sick, desperate, and in need. She has been bleeding for 12 years. That’s 4,380 days. In all that time no one has been able to help her. She’s spent all she had – money and energy. She’s only gotten worse. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year it’s been the same.

This woman’s condition is more than physical. She’s losing more than blood. She’s losing her life, its warmth, vitality, and fruitfulness. That is more than a physical condition – it’s a spiritual matter.

At one level this is a story of this one woman.  Looked at from another level it’s our human story. Her story is our story. It’s not only about women.  It is as much about men. Drained of life, we go through the motions. We’re alive but not really living. Such people feel disconnected, isolated, and alone.

I suspect the bleeding women spent many of the last 4,380 days thinking, “As soon as.…” This particular day, however, something is different. Something in her has changed, shifted. She has heard about Jesus. Maybe she heard about his teaching, about him casting out demons, about him healing the sick, or about him calming the storm on the sea.

We don’t know what she had heard about Jesus but it was enough to make her believe in him. She was desperate.  She would no longer wait on others to fix her life. Today she would risk the crowd’s ridicule.  Today she would literally take matters into her own hands.  In her heart she knows, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”

Instantly a connection is made and a relationship established.  Life no longer leaked out of her but flowed into her.  And, Jesus knew that power had flowed out of Him.   “Who touched my clothes?”    It may take professional help, or a spiritual director, or a close friend to help us through the maze, but Jesus does offer each of us “life without hemorrhaging.”   We don’t have to live drained of life. We, too, can walk the path of peace fully alive if we but risk reaching beyond the circumstances of our lives. We don’t have to live “as soon as” lives.

We can begin by looking at the clothes Jesus wears.  Sometime he drapes himself in silence, solitude, and prayer. Sometimes it’s mercy and forgiveness. Sometimes it’s thanksgiving and gratitude. Other times it’s compassion and generosity. Always it is self-giving love. The very attributes and characteristics of his life are the clothes he wears and the clothes we are to touch.

If you are feeling drained, or for when you may in the future, I’ve put a few copies on the back table of a tool that may help the user get in touch with the area of life that may be the cause.  It can be used for self-examination, for self-direction or to discuss with a confidant.  If you would like a copy of this tool, just let Cheryl Chadick know at cheryl.chadick@saintleo.edu and she will send you one.

If you read the daily reflections in THIS DAY – on Thursday past you saw that the author refers to the Hemorrhaging Woman, the bleeding woman, as a First Century disciple.  When you feel you are living a drained life, call upon this woman in the crowd to intercede for courage to reach out and touch the clothes of Christ. Connect to Him.   Do whatever it takes to let Jesus transfuse you with his life, love, and power. Touch and be healed and go in peace.

 

                                                                                                                                        Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB

 

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