He touched her hand July 1

Let us pray: Jesus, help us to encounter you today in the people we meet and in the people who seek us out. Give us the contrition of Jerusalem. Touch us with your healing fingers. Heal us with your loving words so that we can respond and serve you in faith like Peter’s mother. Amen.

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/070106.shtml

“He touched her hand.” Matthew 8:15

Jesus saves. You’ve seen it on bumper stickers and billboards. Today, we see why Jesus saves and how.

Why Jesus saves is evident from the reading Lamentations. We have profound grief in our situation. We bear the responsibilities for our sins committed, faith shaken and good works omitted. We need a savior.

The Jerusalem portrayed in the first reading from Lamentations is not the shiny city on the hill. It is the city conquered by its enemies facing starvation. The temple was destroyed. Jerusalem was in crisis. The NAB points out that “The figure of Israel as the bride of Yahweh, familiar from the prophets, appears here (in the Book of Lamentations) again; but now Zion is a desolate widow…sustained only by the faith that God's chastisement will eventually give place to his infinite compassion.”

His infinite compassion. If sixth century Jerusalem had only the benefit Peter’s mother received. The touch of Jesus.

Matthew points out to us how Jesus saves. First, Jesus saves those who first have faith AND then, because of that belief, turn to Him. The centurion heard about Jesus and was amazed at the story of this miracle worker. He believed that Jesus could help his servant. The centurion demonstrated the power of his words over the 100 men under his command. He, therefore, expresses his faith in the mere words of Jesus. Jesus saves those touched by his words.

Second, Jesus initiates healing on his own. No one in Matthew's Gospel tells Jesus about Peter’s mother. Jesus goes to her. There is no bag of medicine. No magic potions. Matthew does not even tell us what Jesus said as he entered her room. All that was needed was the gentle touch of Jesus hand. Jesus acts on his own initiative, and the cured woman rises and waits not on “them” (as in Mark 1:31) but on him.

After Jesus healed her, she served him. Ched Myers points out that most commentators assume that this means she fixed Jesus dinner. However, the Greek verb “to serve” (from which we get our word deacon) implies that Peter’s mother was the first of many women, in a society that devalued them, who are identified as His true disciples.

Action

How can you serve today? Maybe the first person you encounter after reading this? Maybe the last person you see before closing your eyes in sleep tonight.