I can truly relate to how God chastises His people, leading them into the desert to ultimately strip them of their addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments. I too was a slave to my own version of Baal and other false gods, to whom I sacrificed everything in worship, including myself and my dignity as a man created in God’s image. My desert experience occurred at a hospital where I received 28 days of treatment for my addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments. It was there that I learned about recovery and freedom from slavery to my false gods.

As the Responsorial Psalm proclaims, “The Lord is gracious and merciful” (Psalm 145:8). I had found true freedom through surrender and God’s grace. My obsessions had been removed. Just as our Lord cured the woman who suffered from hemorrhages and brought back to life the official’s daughter in today’s Gospel reading, the Lord healed me of my spiritual bleeding and brought me back to life through the power of the Twelve Steps, the sacraments, and a recovery community.

For those who still feel stuck between life and death, experiencing spiritual hemorrhaging, know that there is hope. Let us always place hope in our true God, Jesus Christ, for He is our great healer who can and will restore us to new life.

Reflection Questions

• What was or is your desert experience?
• What can you do today to be more like the hemorrhaging woman by having faith and “touching” Jesus’ cloak for healing?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Hosea 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9.
Gospel: Matthew 9:18-26

Reflection by Marty T.