A Touch

In the gospel reading we see the faith of two persons: one (the official of the synagogue) knows that the touch of Jesus can give life, and the other (the woman with the haemorrhage) knows that touching Jesus will give healing. “Even if I only touch his cloak I shall be saved.” Even a fearful touch of a broken woman was sufficient. She is healed from her pain and suffering. She is healed from her haemorrhage of 12 long years.

Our woundedness and brokenness can become true gifts. Whatever be our woundedness and brokenness, they could become true spaces of grace. That is, precisely in our woundedness and brokenness God can touch us, and reveal Himself. God can resurrect our deaths, and give new life to us.

When we feel we have a hardened heart, a mummified heart, we should be afraid of this. This is the death of the heart. But neither sin nor the mummified heart is ever the last word with Jesus, because he has brought us the infinite mercy of the Father. And even if we have hit rock bottom, his tender and strong voice reaches us: “I say to you, arise!”

Either Jesus runs into us or we run into Jesus. Either we touch him or he touches us, the result is the same. The result is one of healing and fullness of life. Every Christian needs to have this experience. Every Christian needs to have this personal touch of Jesus, a personal experience of Jesus.

Every true Christian has a “conversion experience,” a time and place to which God led them to the revelation of the truth of the role and person of Jesus Christ. It is about moving from an intellectual knowledge about God, to have a personal experience and touch of God.

In today’s first reading we have the passage about Jacob’s ladder. Although one of the most familiar stories in the Old Testament, Jacob’s ladder seems to be the first documented “conversion experience” in the Bible. It is the dream that Jacob had where he saw angels ascending and descending on a stairway which joined the heavens and the earth. In this vision, Jacob had a personal encounter with God that established and defined a relationship that changed his life forever.

After his dream, Jacob exclaims: “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was unaware of it. How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!” Our God-experience can lead us to such a deep realization. That God has been here always: an experience that throws wide open the gate of heaven here and now!

God-encounter or conversion is a movement from one’s mind to one’s heart. It is about operating from the heart and not from the mind. In fact, underlying all Jesus’ teaching is a clarion call to a radical shift in consciousness. It is an invitation to a transformation of consciousness. Instead of operating from our egos, our Lord is inviting us to live from our hearts. Only then can we understand the universe of divine abundance.