I hadn\u2019t realized that Jesus had withdrawn to a distant place for any other reason but to set up the conditions for the miracles. \u00a0I had never guessed it could be a retreat, in order to mourn. \u00a0When he is interrupted, his private mourning becomes an act of public generosity, as the needs of the crowd move him to act.<\/p>\n
Now, that I had more of the story, this miracle reminded me of another one: that of the hemorraging woman:<\/p>\n
As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, \u201cWho touched me?\u201d When all denied it, Peter said, \u201cMaster, the crowds surround you and press in on you.\u201d But Jesus said, \u201cSomeone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.\u201d When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, \u201cDaughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.\u201d [Luke 8:42-48]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In both stories, the need of others draws out grace from Christ. \u00a0In one story, he salves the ordinary needs of the body, and, in the other, he mends the extraordinary needs of one. \u00a0In neither story was this particular act of healing his primary reason for being where he is (the healing of the hemorrhaging woman happens in the middle of Christ\u2019s trip to visit a sick child). \u00a0But, instead of being an interruption or a distraction, each outflowing of grace melds, well, gracefully with his present course of action.<\/p>\n
These two stories offer hope to us, to help us not be too resistant to the needs of others. \u00a0An interruption isn\u2019t always a shattering of the work already being done. \u00a0And they give us more reason to ask for help ourselves, to give our friends the opportunity for generosity and to channel grace.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The miracle of the loaves and fishes is one of the ones that I\u2019d heard before I ever considered becoming Catholic. \u00a0But I\u2019d always heard about it in isolation, as just one in a series of extraordinary (but interchangeable) events. \u00a0This past Sunday, the story came up in the Gospel reading, but, this time, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":10053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-10051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bible-study"],"yoast_head":"\n
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