💖 HOMILY - JANUARY 19 💖

First Reading - Hebrews 7:25-8:6

Gospel - Mark 3:7-12

During the pandemic, touch or closeness was a dreadful thing. We all tried our best to avoid any contact with the other person. However, human touch is important for many reasons. Human touch is required for plants; it is also required for a lonely and sick person; it's also required for a dying person - It heals, soothes and comforts. The readings of today invite us to dispose ourselves to receive a touch from Jesus to be healed and be saved.

The reading lays arguments regarding the priesthood of Christ that it is of a higher order than that of the priesthood descended from Aaron now takes a new turn. It had been that Christ’s priesthood is of the order of Melchizedek rather than that of Aaron. The first new dimension is that of the perfection of the high priest himself: this high priest has no need, as did the Aaronic high priests, to make sacrifice atoning for his own sins as well as those of the people, for Christ is ‘holy, innocent and uncontaminated’.

A second presupposition, which comes out clearly, is that this high priest is a permanent priest, not sacrificing year by year on the Day of Atonement, but now and for ever seated at the right hand of the Father on the throne of God. From this comes the strong strand in the theology of the Eucharist that the sacrifice of Christ was ‘once and for all’ in the past, but that Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father, continues to offer this sacrifice. The Eucharist represents for us a tangible presence of Christ praying and interceding for us to the Father so that we all may be healed (from our spiritual weaknesses) and be saved.

The gospel presents the ardent desire of the multitude flocking from all around to Jesus to be healed. The pressing crowd had only one intention that is to be healed. The crowd had seen Jesus working miracles and many had heard about miraculous deeds of Jesus from others. They just wanted to 'touch' Jesus. The 'touch' of Jesus becomes powerful. 

Dear friends, there is a power in the 'touch' of Jesus. We need the touch of Jesus in our lives too. We can't deny the fact that many times in our lives, we struggle from many of our internal conflicts like envy, anger, hatred, unforgiveness, grudge etc. They make us sick because they steal our peace and joy of life. The gospel passage exhorts us to come to Jesus to touch him and become healed. The Holy Eucharist is the celebration where we touch Jesus in a tangible way in the Word of God and the Holy Communion. Jesus gives us a healing touch through them provided we recieve him with ernest desire to become healed like the crowds that flocked to Jesus.

Let's dispose ourselves with ernest desire to be healed by Jesus from our spiritual sicknesses and physical sicknesses.