Monday, September 30 (17), 2024
Gal. 2:11-16; Mk. 5:24-34
As soon as the woman with the issue of blood touched the Lord with faith, she felt “that virtue had gone out of Him” to heal her, “and straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague” [Mk. 5:25-30].
Her flow of blood is an image of sinful emotions and thoughts continually flowing out of a heart which has not yet been cleansed from sinful passions: basically, it is the disease of sin. We clearly feel this disease when, having repented of our wrongdoings, we strive to remain clean both outside and inside: then we see that our heart is a source of sinful thoughts and intentions: it is painful to us, it makes us suffer, and we seek remedy from this condition.
But there is no remedy from this, neither within ourselves, nor in others: it can be found in God alone, when our soul would touch Him and receive from Him the “virtue” ─ that is, when we get into a real connection with Him, which is manifested by a special kind of inner warmth and burning of the heart for Christ. When that happens, our soul is “healed of that plague”.
This is, of course, a great blessing: how to attain to it? The sick woman in the Gospel account squeezed through the dense crowd to touch the Lord and be healed; so also we should squeeze ourselves through the narrow path of internal struggle and external exploits. While on that path, we grope ahead with great difficulty, unable to see the Lord, ─ and then suddenly He is right there. What a joy! “The Kingdom of God cometh not with a visible sign…” [Lk. 17:20].