She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 

For she said, “If I touch even his garments, 

I shall be made well.”
(Mark 5:27-28) 

 Mark 5:21-43

I want us to focus today on a small moment in the story: the moment the woman touches Jesus's garment.

Take a moment again to visualise the scene. See, hear and feel the crowds. See Jesus accompanying the grieving Jairus to his daughter. See the disciples, perhaps nervous in the heavy crowds.

Spot the woman. Notice her suffering. Notice her hope. And watch as she waits for Jesus to pass her by. See her reach out and take hold of his clothes. Stop the scene for a moment. Look at it. See her hand on his clothes. See how it holds on to them. Is she holding tightly or loosely? How does the fabric feel in her fingers? Stop and contemplate this moment of faith.

I believe that this moment is a prophetic gesture. It is a demonstration of a quiet but sure faith. It is a moment in which pain is expressed in silence through the clutching of a piece of fabric. It is a moment where we see that we can be an agent of God's healing. Jesus even seems surprised that his healing power could flow from him, apparently without him knowing about it or intending it. Her gesture of faith effectively draws God's healing power into her body. It is a moment of liberation. 

What does the moment, this gesture, this prophetic action, say to you? What is God saying to you through the image of a hand touching a garment?
 

Reflections by Sean van Staden SJ

Dear Jesus,
My faith feels so weak sometimes. Help me to have the faith of this woman who clutched your garment. Grant me the healing and freedom that I long for.
Amen.

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