1539AFC092515 – Touchable
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Matthew 8:3 – He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Mark 1:41 – 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!”
Matthew 9:20-21 – Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”
Luke 18:15-16 – 15 People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it. 16 But Jesus called for them and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.
Matthew 17:7 – But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.”
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Peace be with you! This week we are all aware that Pope Francis I is in America. Although his visit is short, his presence is well-documented in the news media. Some people downplay his importance. Some disagree with his message about ecology and say a religious figure ought not to deal with politics while others say that this message is of vital interest to the world. Some people see something sinister in everything he says, and others see something righteous in his words and deeds. However we feel about Pope Francis and his visit, it is possible to observe that he definitely touches people’s hearts and minds – some are inspired and some are appalled. He also touches people. There must be thousands of photos and video frames showing Pope Francis embracing, kissing, touching, holding, or reaching out to hands stretched toward him. Touching is one way we show trust and affection to one another. The Pope’s touch is like that; he reaches out in trusting love to share a moment with fellow sinners. He reaches out to make that contact that assures us he is real, and present, and here for us.
Back in the mid-eighties, there was a very popular song Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand. It was popularized by Diana Ross, among others. Reach out and Touch Someone was the theme for a lot of Bell Telephone commercials. The song was written by David Lucas who worked with budding musician stars in the 50’s and 60’s and later in the 70’s worked with the group Blue Öyster Cult. Over a career of about 30 years he wrote many famous jingles including Reach Out and Touch Someone for AT&T. Here’s a YouTube link in case you’d like to listen to that again. Truthfully we depend on touch to help us build the sense of family and community that is essential to human life. Infants bond with their moms when they are held. Infants who are not held, cuddled, touched, and spoken to often fail to thrive. We are social creatures, and touch is a huge part of our socialization. We are created to be touchable. When we treat others as if they are untouchable, we are dehumanizing them, objectifying them to the point of being invisible. We are aware that at times throughout history and in more than a few cultures, some humans were considered untouchable. You could walk right by them and whatever was happening to them would be completely ignored. Being ignored is even worse than being hated. To be hated one has to be recognized, seen, and acknowledged. To be ignored is to become less than human. On the other hand, when we reach out to others – whether for our own consolation or for mercy to others – we are at our best as human beings.
Pope Francis wants us to see that in his mission as Pope. That gorgeous smile, those gentle and humble hands, the kind words and soft voice show us that the inner man is deeply touched by Jesus’ touch. Jesus reached out to touch others, but often people reached out to touch him. Jesus, too, was touchable, and for many, his touch brought healing.
Sometimes when we are in pain, we reach out for others in the hope that they will touch us with the same healing love Jesus has for all of us. We want someone to hold us, to embrace us, to open their arms and their hearts and to diminish our pain by sharing it. All of us can remember someone holding us when we skinned a knee, or suffered a loss, or felt our hopes crushed. When we share those moments with others, we become accepting of our humanity and share that human strength that is the foundation of civilization.
There are times in our lives when we do not want to be touched; these are also times of pain for us. It may be emotional, physical, or spiritual pain that causes us to shrink away from the touch of others even if it is the touch of someone who loves us. We sometimes even shrink away from God’s touch. We may feel that God cannot possibly care about how badly we feel. “If God is really so loving and kind, why has he done this to me?” Intellectually, we can dismiss that rhetorical question by admitting that God does not cause evil; he does permit evil because it is part of his Divine Plan. Knowing that any of us could sometimes feel like God has deserted us, God made himself touchable. He gave us the Man, Christ Jesus, who was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and human in all ways except sin. He is resurrected and still very touchable. There’s another song that I recall from that same era as the ones previously mentioned. Written by Charles F. Brown in 1971, it became immensely popular in all kinds of Christian churches – including Catholic churches. (Yes, just to reiterate, Catholics are Christians!). It is called Reach Out and Touch the Lord as He Walks By. It’s a great way to be closer to God – reach out and touch him like an old friend.
When we greet each other here in Hawaiʽi, we almost always touch. It may be a hug, or just a handshake, or sometimes an elaborate fist-bump-hand-grab-big-hug-back-slap. We know that the word Aloha comes from the root word A-LO which means face-to-face, and HA which means breath. Aloha is face-to-face-breath – peace, love, openness, sincerity. We even say “Aloha Ke Akua.” That is Aloha like none other for it means “God is Love.” We aloha God – face-to-face-breath through the Holy Spirit. He touches us like that spiritually and emotionally. We like it when God touches us like that, and HE likes it when we reach out to touch him. We touch him when we are merciful. In these messages we have often discussed the Corporal and Spiritual Acts of Mercy (look there for the beginning of that series of messages). When Jesus reached out to someone, it was with compassion. In his Mercy, he healed; he touched, spoke, forgave, and loved. We can imitate and emulate Jesus by reaching out to touch him as he walks by in our brothers and sisters, our fellow earthlings. And there is one other way we can touch him: In the Eucharist.
Hand of Christ reaching down from heaven to grab the hand of man
Christ is really present in the Eucharist. That’s Jesus sitting in our hands, resting in our Tabernacle, present on the Altar. Regrettably, we are sometimes unaware of how extraordinary that is: Jesus is touchable, right now, right there, right inside my hand, right inside my body and my heart. Jesus. The One and Only Jesus is touching me because I have reached out to touch him because he reached out to save me – and you, and every living soul that ever was, is, or will be. Jesus is God’s way of being open to our touch. Put your hand in the Hand of the Man who stilled the waters. Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on. Help me stand. Jesus, I trust in you. Thank you for reaching out to touch me so that I, too, can be made clean!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
