I willingly admit that I don’t like being in crowds where “everyone is touching me.”  An example I often use is the grocery (particularly a certain grocery on Goss Avenue) where people bump into me with the carts or are tailgating me in the aisle.  As much as I like to travel, I dread a completely crowded airplane in economy because I know I will be crammed in a narrow seat with someone next to me or someone coming down the aisle carelessly while their body, their luggage, or their backpack touches me.  The airport concourse is even worse with crowds rushing and not mindful of people around them.

So it is in this Sunday’s gospel story which includes an account of a woman with many hemorrhages in a crowd, surreptitiously (or so she thinks) touching Jesus’ garments, believing she will be cured of her affliction.  Indeed, her simple touching of Him miraculously and immediately heals her after many years of doctors only making her condition worse. Mark’s gospel says, “Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" It is so crowded the disciples do not know who touched Jesus.  The woman, fearing a harsh rebuke, admits she touched his garments, and surprisingly, Jesus responds, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."

A few weeks ago, I took an emergency anointing call at University Hospital. A man in his fifties had serious brain injuries from a motorcycle accident and was unconscious.  When I arrived at his ICU bed, his mother admitted to me that she was asking for him to be anointed.  She said her son had not been to church in decades and she was fearful for his soul.  I reminded her the sacrament involves the touch of Jesus Christ and that his touch immediately cleanses the soul.  When we finished, she tearfully admitted to me that she needed the experience more than her son, and I told her that her faith had healed both of them, and me as well.  As I drove home, I thought about that woman with many hemorrhages.

I often forget, and I suspect many of you often forget, how Jesus touches us in every sacrament.  He is aware that sacramental grace is flowing out of him and into us.  He is fully aware of its redeeming and sanctifying power.  How unfortunate for us, that we often don’t realize the same.  I am trying to be more aware, and I urge you to do the same.