“That they might touch only the tassel on his cloak.” | Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin

From the responsorial psalm: “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD, my God, you are great indeed! You are clothed with majesty and glory, robed in light as with a cloak. May the Lord be glad in his works.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 6:53-56, today’s readings)

They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

Word of Jesus spread quickly throughout the whole region. In Gennesaret, as soon as people realized Jesus set foot on the shore, they begin to bring their sick to him. Not long before, on his way to heal Jairus’s daughter, a woman came to Jesus only to touch his cloak and was healed. Perhaps people heard this story told and began to hurry to get their sick loved ones to Jesus as soon as he was present. Mark tells us this about the places Jesus visits: “Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.” Jesus rewards the great faith these people act on with teaching and healing, bringing them to wholeness in this life while preparing them for life in the world to come.

God, help me rest today in the true hope and consolation of Jesus Christ your Son. “Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people,” the Gospel acclamation says. Time after time, Lord, let me come to you to hear your word and to know genuine gratitude for all your good gifts. In receiving you in the Eucharist, I begin to perceive the peace the people experienced as you healed them of their illnesses. Stay with me, Lord; make me whole. Memorial of Saint Scholastica, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.