Commentary on the Gospel of
AND ALL WHO TOUCHED HIM WERE CURED.
The first reading describes the story of Creation: the origins of night and day, dry land, vegetation, and the starry firmament, all of which God made and declared good. We fast forward in the gospel reading to the world that human beings have created, filled with suffering, poverty, and sickness. Yet where Jesus travels, a new creation sweeps over the land: the sick are healed, even by touching the hem of his cloak. It is as if in the presence of Jesus the darkness recedes, health and wholeness prevail, dry land emerges from the flood, and the original goodness of Creation is restored.
We cannot expect to reproduce such miraculous effects. But the evidence of Christ’s presence in the church is not signified simply by worship and prayer. The true sign is the presence of goodness, the spread of justice and peace, the evidence of healing and wholeness in both the community and the wider society. Our efforts may represent no more than the hem of Jesus’ cloak, but whatever they touch is included in God’s new Creation, and it is good.
