His cloak ......

HIS CLOAK ……….

Mario D’Couto

            Someone once defined faith creatively in the following acronym,

F – Forsaking
A – All
I – I
T – Trust
H – Him

            I am always taken up by the incident in the life of our Lord when a woman, who was bleeding for many years, took the courage to touch the edge of Jesus’ cloak.

            In the Gospel of St. Luke (8: 40 – 48), we see Jesus being surrounded by a huge crowd of people who were trying to get Him. It is but obvious that there must have been many people who were touching Him but then here was this woman who thought to herself, “If only I could touch His cloak, then I will be healed.”

            Being overwhelmed by the crowd, it must have been difficult for her to get past so many people in order to reach out for Jesus. Probably, it could have also been possible that because she was a woman, she was not given easy access to come forward. Thus, we can imagine the sentiments of the woman. With her bleeding on one side and with a massive crowd in front of her, it was but difficult for her to make ends meet. Nevertheless, she took courage and went ahead saying, “If only I could touch His cloak…..” These seven powerful words are what made the difference. She believed!

            What follows after that is even more interesting. Notice that in the Gospel, Jesus asks, “Who touched Me?” Does this mean to say t hat there was nobody else touching Him except this poor woman? As mentioned earlier, the Gospel asserts that there was a huge crowd and it was indeed, difficult for the woman to pass by. Even His own Apostles acknowledged this fact as is seen in Lk 8:45. Yet, why is it then that Jesus asked, “Who touched Me?” The Gospel tell us that Jesus felt the power going out of Him, which is to say that in the midst of such a massive crowd, here was this woman who was able to catch the attention of our Lord and mind you, this was only ‘His cloak.’

            No wonder our Lord said in the Gospel that if we have faith as small as the mustard seed, we could move a mulberry tree (Lk 17:6). This, of course, is not to be taken in the literal sense nor does it mean that things are going to happen over night. It is about trusting God that he will never let us down.

            The fact is, until we stop doubting God’s goodness, we can’t experience God’s love. Without faith, we can neither please God nor draw close to Him for comfort and guidance which we would need in order to face the cares and affairs of everyday life. No wonder Jesus, before working a miracle, would sometimes ask, “Do you believe that I can heal you?”(Mtt 9:28). Everyday the Lord gives us opportunities to touch ‘His cloak.’ He isn’t looking as much for workers as He is looking for sons and daughters – a people to pour His life into. When our Lord admonished the apostles, “Where is your faith?” during the time when the boat was going through a turmoil during the thunder storm, He was not implying that God is a magician that things would change drastically in an instant rather He was exhorting them to trust God in the midst of crisis. May we who in our own little way experience the ups and downs of life not fail to lose sight of ‘His cloak.’       
 


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