Posted by The WORD in other words (2021) by Fr. Roshan D’Souza (St. Isidore the Farmer Parish, Loreto, Agusan Del Sur)
Monday 30th Week in Ordinary Time
Image source: Wikimedia Commons, Christ healing woman on a sabbath
For eighteen long years, the woman in today’s gospel accepted her ailment and pain, but she saw the ray of hope in the Lord.
As children of God, we, in and through Jesus Christ, can call God our ‘Abba’ or ‘Father’ in all moments of our lives, especially in moments of dire need. Why then does this woman, a child of God, had to wait for a great number of years before encountering the mercy of God? In the words of St. Paul, “We suffer with Him so that we also be glorified with him.” The suffering and hopefulness of the woman bore fruit in God’s own time.
Jesus entered the temple and saw the woman. He called to her and extended his hand and touched her. Nobody had done that in years. The woman encountered the mercy and love of the Lord through the divine touch of Jesus on a Sabbath, which agitated the scrupulous observers of the Mosaic law. We see the bondage of Satan here in two forms: in the infirmed and long-suffering woman, and in the leaders of the synagogue by their anger and self-righteousness. Divine Mercy became tangible in the woman’s restoration to good health, but it never worked in the case of the leaders of the synagogue.
It took only one word from Jesus to release this woman instantly of her infirmity. God’s word has the power to heal and make us whole again. Like the woman, let’s ask for God’s grace to follow His word in our lives so we can be faithful witnesses of the Divine Word’s healing and mercy.
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