Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

A Sacramental Touch

“If only I can touch his cloak…” said the longsuffering woman in today’s Gospel reading according to Matthew (9:21). She but touched the tassel on his cloak, yet Jesus noticed. Surely, Jesus’ tassel did not have nerve endings connected to his brain. Rather, it was the woman’s faith that sent a signal right to his divine heart.

Although there is an emphasis on the spiritual in our liturgies and sacraments, the material or physical cannot be ignored and should not be overlooked. Catholics dip their fingers in a bowl of water and touch their forehead, chest, and each shoulder (admittedly sometimes hastily). In good faith, the water has been blessed and therefore made holy. In good piety, the Catholic blesses herself with the holy water in the shape of a cross and remembers the promises of her Baptism—the outward sign of an inward reality.

The cowl does not make the monk.

This Shakespearean saying appears in the play Measure for Measure in reference to the supposed Friar Ludowick who, underneath the friar’s cloak, is really the Duke of Vienna. (source) The general idea is that appearances can be deceiving. The point I make here is that the physical clothing that I wear as a monk does not necessarily make me a monk. Yet, it is a reminder of what I am called to become. My monastic habit (tunic, belt, scapular, hood) is an outward sign of an inward reality. It can therefore be called “sacramental.” The tassel on Jesus’ cloak was not holy in and of itself. It was made so by the divine and human being who wore it. And it was considered sacramental by the woman who reached out to touch it.

For the Journey:
Consider the clothing that you wear. How does it help you become what you want to be? Do you wear any religious articles? Have you placed any undue or untrue spiritual power on a material thing? Read Matthew 23:16-22 for further reflection on the cause of holiness in material things.

Reflection by Br. Luke Kral, OSB