If Only I Can Touch His Cloak...

Gospel Reading: Matthew 9, 18-26

If only I can touch His cloak, I shall be cured. I can only imagine how difficult it was for the woman to live a life of such misery for 12 years. During Jesus' time, a woman in her monthly period was considered unclean. Being unclean means no contact with anyone. Anyone who touched her or even rub elbows with her would also become unclean. One had to go through the ritual of purification every time one had contact with an unclean person. The woman in the Gospel today must be very, very lonely. She had no contact with anyone for the last 12 years of her life. She was physically and emotionally disturbed. Physically, having to bleed profusely was no joke. Emotionally, losing contact with anyone was a torture.

Let us see how she approached Jesus in comparison with the Roman official who met Jesus and knelt down before Him. The official had the face to face Jesus. He knelt before Jesus and expressed what he wanted from Him. On the other hand, the lady was behind Jesus. She didn't have the face to face Him. The Jewish community regarded her as unclean. Her religion considered her a sinner. She must have asked herself what had she done to deserve such bad fate. She must have asked herself what must she do in order to be healed and live a normal life again. Before Jesus, she felt that she was unworthy.

In one way or another, we are like this woman. At times we feel that we are not worthy of the love of God. When we honestly look at ourselves, we see so much of our sinfulness. The other night, a woman sent me a message. She told me she was such a bad woman and her sins were unforgivable. She could not even look at the cross without feeling unworthy.

If only I can touch His cloak, I shall be cured. This woman must have heard so many stories about Jesus. The streets in Galilee and Capernaum during Jesus' time must have discussed more frequently the many miracles that He did. The woman knew Jesus could heal her. But she felt unworthy to face Him. The only solution was to get the miracle out from Jesus without Him knowing it. Such a clever idea! If only I can touch His cloak, I shall be cured. Jesus turned around and said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you!"

If only I can touch His cloak, I shall be cured. Let us learn from this woman and see our Christian lives the way she did. We are sinners, true enough, but we are still loved by Jesus. Even the tassels of His cloak can heal us. Let us then bow before Jesus, or kneel before Him, or like the woman, stealthily approached Him. Surely, in whatever ways we are doing it, He will listen to our cries. Surely He will also tell to us, "Courage! Your faith has saved you!"