Day #543

June 27, 2015

In the Gospel reading for Sunday, June 28^th, (Mark 5:21-43), there is the account of Jesus healing a woman who had suffered from a disease for 12 years. She is not named in the account, until after she touches the hem of Jesus’ garment, he finds out who did so, calls her to him, and hears her story. It is then that Jesus calls her “daughter.”

In that moment of healing of body, mind and spirit, her given name does not matter (even though it is always and forever unknown to us) but her new name, daughter, means everything. She is now included, loved, cared for and about, claimed, and given dignity – all things she has probably not had for over a decade.

How did this event change her life? What did she do with her new-found acceptance and wholeness? Did she go and tell others just about the physical healing, her being claimed somehow lost in the excitement? Or was the acceptance her focus as she spread the news? These questions, unfortunately, cannot be answered.

However, what about me? What does it mean that I have been claimed by God in the waters of baptism, sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever? Have I been healed in ways that I don’t even recognize? And how do I respond? More importantly, how should I?

Blessings.