4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Daughter. 

If you’ve ever felt isolated, dejected, or underappreciated, then you have something in common with the woman in today’s Gospel. This woman, because she was hemorrhaging, was in a state of ritual “uncleanness,” according to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 15:19). And Mark tells us that she was in this state for twelve full years. Imagine the toll this must have taken on this poor woman—and on her family!

But then she touched Jesus, and just like that, she was healed. Finally, this woman, who had been so alone for so long, could be fully reunited with her family. Finally, the other women in her village didn’t have to keep her at arm’s length. Finally, she could worship God at the synagogue with everyone else. With her healing, she was now brought back into the community.

Do you know what else happened to this woman that day? Jesus called her “daughter” (Mark 5:34). When he learned how she had been cured by touching his cloak, Jesus didn’t draw back or rebuke her for possibly contaminating him. Instead of denying her healing, he took it one step further by calling her a child of God.

Jesus welcomed her into his own family that day. He removed any sense of isolation or rejection she might have felt and replaced it with his own love and welcome.

Daughter. Son. My beloved. Hearing God calling you by these names can change your life. It can tell you that you are not alone. It can tell you that your Father in heaven sees you, loves you, and wants to help you. It can encourage you to turn to him for even deeper healing.

From the moment that she reached out to Jesus, this woman became the unofficial patron saint of the lonely. Now every one of us who feels abandoned or isolated can find ourselves in her story. Every day she calls out, “Reach out to Jesus! Come and let him call you his own. You belong to him!”

“Jesus, I am so grateful that you call me your child!”

2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14, 24-25, 30–19:3
Psalm 86:1-6
Mark 5:21-43