In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

In today’s Gospel, when the Saviour was surrounded with people, one woman who had had a hemorrhage that had lasted for many years, and who could find no cure, was so desperate that she sneaked up behind, and touched just the hem of His garment. Immediately she was healed. Then the Saviour said: Who touched me? The Apostles answered (to paraphrase): Lord, how can You say that? There is a big crowd around You, and everyone is pushing against You. What do You mean?

There is touching, and there is touching. In this case, the Lord knew very well the faith of the woman who had touched Him. She had strong hope that if she were able just to touch Him, and not disturb Him at all, God would have mercy on her, and heal her. That’s exactly what happened. Because of her faith, she was healed by touching the hem of His garment. Every time I hear this passage from the Gospel, it reminds me of the times that I had the blessing to visit Ukraine. This last year I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Romania. When you are in these countries in particular, it is very much like what we just heard, and saw in today’s Gospel reading. The Saviour is surrounded by people pressing close to Him. Why are they pressing close to Him? They are trying to get close to get some sort of a blessing. They want to be close to the Saviour, partly because of love, and partly because they want Grace from God. This woman, in particular, wants healing, and she receives it. If a bishop is going anywhere in Ukraine or in Romania (especially at the end of church services), he gets surrounded by people. He has to touch their heads, and they are anxious to touch his vestments in order to take a blessing from God.

There is a monastery in the north of Romania named Putna, whose feast-day is the Dormition of the Mother of God. I remember especially that on the Feast of the Dormition, there were 10,000 people there, and three bishops serving. When the bishops left the altar, it was almost impossible for us bishops to move because the people surrounded us. They were asking for blessings right, left, and centre. It was a Grace-filled moment. For me, in particular, in such moments, it is possible to feel drained because of such a press of people, and because so many people are asking for so much all at once. It’s more than a human being can give. It forces me, the bishop, to rely on God simply to pass the Grace through me to them as I touch them, and give them the blessings that they are asking for. As a result of that, such an experience is no longer wearying, tiring, and dragging. Instead it becomes life-giving, and renewing to me. While the bishop is allowing God’s Grace to pass through him, the Lord’s Grace is renewing him, and so is the faith of the people renewing him. As the bishop is giving to the people from God, the people are giving back to him their love, and their faith in Jesus Christ.

This is the way it is in the Body of Christ. The bishop or the priest may give God’s Grace to the people, but the people’s love for Jesus Christ comes back to the priest or the bishop, and renews his strength at the same time. We are all together members of the Body of Christ. We are like the building of Christ as the Apostle Paul is saying in the Epistle. We are all together supporting, and strengthening each other, no matter what is our function in the Body of Christ. We all need each other. We all support each other. We all strengthen each other. We pray for each other. We nurture each other. We encourage each other in the love of Jesus Christ.

Today the Lord resurrects the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus. Everyone knew that the girl was dead. However, the Saviour had more things to show them. People think that they know everything, but they don’t. They think that we are limited by a normal, average way of life, and when people die – that’s it. There are two reasons that the Saviour did what He did. In raising the little girl from the dead the Saviour showed that He, Himself, is the Lord of the living, and of the dead, and that He is the Giver of life. He shows WHO HE IS. He shows that His love for us is bringing this same life, and this same resurrection from the dead in the future as well as in the present. He shows in her rising from the dead what was coming with His own rising from the dead.

The Saviour is also promising to you, and to me that in our love for Him we can have confidence that the resurrection from the dead really will happen as He has promised us. We can have confidence that it really will happen. If we love Jesus Christ, and we are alive in Jesus Christ, His Resurrection will be to eternal life. That is our hope for ourselves, and it is our hope for everyone we love. Because of the love of Jesus Christ, the Resurrection, and life eternal in Him in His love is possible.

The Lord is calling you, and me to live in love with Him. This means that as much as possible, we should be trying to live a life of purity, and of cleanness. There are no human beings who do not sin, but we have the way to healing, and cleansing from sin in confession, and Holy Communion. The Lord gives us the possibility to renew our baptism in confession, and in Holy Communion. If we slip, we can be healed, and cleansed from the dirt of sin. We can be renewed in confessing our sins, and receiving the Body, and Blood of Christ. This enables us to do better.

The way of the Orthodox Christian, the way of the Gospel, the way of Jesus Christ is not the way of the world. It is not the way of secular Canada. People very often make fun of those who try to do what is right, to live according to what is right, and to follow the way of Jesus Christ. However, let us persevere in the love of Jesus Christ in doing, and being what is right (and let us not worry if they make fun of us or say things about us). Let us pray (as in the Beatitudes that we sang this morning) for those who don’t like us, and who are abusing us, saying: “Lord have mercy”. If we, in Christ, can find the way through praying for them to forgive them, we open the door for them to find the same strength, the same hope, the same love in Jesus Christ that sustains us. It is this love that enables us to overcome all sorts of pain, betrayals, and difficulties in human life.

Brothers, and sisters, the Saviour is with us here today. He is presenting Himself to us in this Divine Liturgy. We are here because we love Him. He is presenting Himself to us because He loves us. He is saying to you, and to me: Come to me all you that labour, and are weary in your labour, and I will give you rest (cf. Matthew 11:28). Let us come to Him this morning, receive Him, and allow Him to give us rest, and peace in our hearts, and hope in our lives so that we may have strength to carry on, and glorify Him today, tomorrow, the next day, and the rest of our lives: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

† Archdiocese of Canada - Orthodox Church in America