In today’s Gospel, we see the power of God at work in him, with the healing of the woman with the issue of blood and the return to life of the little girl. Sickness and death are part of our weakened human condition. I have been able to see the same experiences in the Gospel as more than just religious stories. Our modern-day equivalent is the miraculous cures in response to the prayers of the Saints, or the same experienced in places such as Lourdes.

It is perhaps a reflection of our modern illnesses, that more is done of the healing of mental illness than of physical illness. If we consider the most recent saints, they reflect the needs of our times. Mother Theresa, what she did for the poorest of the poor in their sickness and eventual death. Padre Pio, with the healings attributed to his work in the Sacrament of Confession, after the manner of St John Vianney, the Curé d’Ars. The healing of body and soul was facilitated by Jesus. What was more difficult to see and be aware of: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Rise take up your bed and walk’?

To the individuals that reached out to Jesus for healing and those of us that pray today requires faith. We see the witness to this in the Word of God in scripture, and in the gifts, he gave us in his body the Church, particularly the gift of himself in the sacraments of initiation. To believe, hope and love in baptism; the strengthening with the gifts of the Spirit in Confirmation; above all the gift of himself as spiritual food that we celebrate in the Eucharist. He reveals the sacraments of return, Reconciliation and Anointing. We are supported and become a community through the sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders. The sacramental imagery is further enhanced when we speak of the Church as the ‘Sacrament’ of Christ and the humanity of Jesus as the sacrament of God.

We see this enacted in today’s Gospel with the healing of long-standing illness, and the bringing back to life of one who has passed away. We will all eventually experience the death of a loved one and while the grieving process may take a long time or different to most individuals, we must keep the faith the same faith that the woman experienced by touching His robe. However, the effects of the emotional, and physical reactions of the death of a close family member or friend may eventually come to us and test this very faith.

This was as true for the closest followers of Jesus, witnessed to in the events of his passion, death and resurrection. As he leaves them again to return to the Father in the Ascension, there is a sense of sadness, loss and apprehension as they return to the upper room, to await the promised sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Spirit comes as teacher, comforter and advocate. As the depths of the revelation of God in Christ is communicated to us at the deepest levels of our being.

In today’s second reading, St. Paul reminds us that the love of God must be seen in the way we relate to each other, both as individuals and as communities. The economic crisis and the scandal of politicians’ expenses bring back to mind my grandfather’s old political slogan, ‘Fair share for all and priority for the needy’. It might seem old-fashioned but is surely a closer approximation to Gospel values than our present culture based on desires rather than genuine need. Surely the sacraments provide us with a model for the ‘Healing of the Nations’, in our own time, as we anticipate our sharing in the life of the Trinity in the future.