FRIDAY, May 15

In other healings, Jesus takes the initiative, but here he does nothing; he is apparently not even aware of this woman's presence until she touches his robe. How did her faith make her well? Can we count on that every time? What is faith, anyway?

Faith is trust. We don't know what this woman believed about Jesus, but she clearly trusted him. In reaching out to touch the hem of his robe, she  demonstrated her conviction that merely being in Christ's presence, the slightest contact, could change her life. This is still true. To be in Christ's presence is to let him change us. At least in the case of the earthly Jesus, this could apparently happen even without his being aware of it.

We cannot count on being healed every time we come to Christ. That kind of Christ would resemble a soft drink machine: put in 75 cents worth of faith and out comes 75 cents worth of healing. It would also presume that we know Christ's mind and what is best for us. Trust includes bringing our needs and desires to Christ and then accepting what comes, confident that he is in all things and that he is good.

PRAY for the Diocese of Lebombo (Southern Africa)

Ps 106:1-18 * 106:19-48;  Wisdom 16:15-17:1; Romans 14:13-23; Luke 8:40-56

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