Meditation for Monday
of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Gen 1:1-19; Mk
6:53-56)
We begin this week’s meditations
with the beautiful story of creation and the powerful story of Jesus’ healing
of the sick. God spoke direct words and things came into existence. In the
Gospel, we hear about a unique way Jesus healed the sick: “They laid the sick
in the market places, and begged Him that they might touch even the fringe of
His garment; and as many as touched it were made well.”
It appears Jesus healed them ‘indirectly’, i.e. without any direct words of healing or explicit exercise of His healing power. Now we can begin to understand the workings of faith as a supernatural gift of God. Faith is the assurance of what is hoped for (Heb 11:1). And God is present in our faith! That is why we cannot claim to believe and still remain ‘distant’ from Him; our faith must ‘empty’ us into the person of Jesus. Hence, even His silence speaks to the believer; any ‘touch’ of His presence heals. Jesus confirms the power of faith as He says to the woman that touched His cloak, “Daughter, your faith has saved you” (Mk 5:34).
Once more, imagine stretching out hand to touch the garment of Jesus and be healed without Him uttering a word! But, think about what it takes to believe that such a touch is enough to wipe off one’s problem! What a courage such a believer would have in order to step forward, piercing through the crowd to Jesus. Such a believer must be CONTEMPLATIVE in order to see holistically through the eyes of faith the divine presence available for him. A touch of the fringe of his garment becomes for us this day A COTEMPLATIVE TOUCH! When we courageously step aside to be alone with Jesus in the silence of our hearts, we shall have this ‘tiny touch’ within that heals and uplifts our souls. Amen.
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic
Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Monday February 8th,
2021.
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com
