Art of the Month – March
This painting, from the 16th century, of Christ healing a woman with an issue of blood is by Paulo Caliari who was born in Verona and became known as Paulo Veronese because of his place of birth. He loved creating large works of art full of colour with majestic architectural settings and crowded with figures. The artist captures the moment when Christ encounters the woman who had touched the hem of his garment and had been healed. The artist gives us a hint of the crowd who surrounded Jesus. Behind his left arm we see Peter, almost like a papal bodyguard checking out the crowd and a young John loving the Lord and looking after him. Behind his right arm is probably Magdalene who seems to be checking out the woman. But they all seem unimportant to Jesus who has loving and tender eyes only for the woman who teaches us how to touch Jesus.
The story of the woman who, for twelve years, had suffered from a haemorrhage and of Jairus’ daughter whom Mark (5:22-43) and Luke (8.40-56) tell us is at the point of death. Matthew, however, writes that she is already dead (9.18-26) . St. Matthew simply refers to the woman’s illness which nowadays would probably be diagnosed as menorrhagia. St Mark tells us the woman’s condition had grown worse under doctors. St. Luke, himself a doctor, with a slight twist, defends his profession and tells us that she was incurable! In St Mark’s Gospel, there always seems to be a crowd around Jesus and yet, the crowd disappears into the background and there are these tender and personal encounters between Jesus and a suffering soul. Did you ever see West Side Story? When Tony and Maria see each other for the first time at a crowded dance, the music changes, the crowd is filtered out into a hazy background and the focus, for a time, is solely on the loving couple. And so it is in Mark. The amorphous crowd, looking for entertainment and miracles. disappear and we are left with only Jesus and the woman. Because of her condition, she had ceased to be a Daughter of Israel twelve years ago. She had become unclean and infectious at the very time Jairus’ daughter was born.
Now, twelve years later, they are linked again by an encounter with the Master. Just imagine, the woman had been ill for the whole of the girl’s life. She, because of her condition, should not have been there and, therefore, she wants to remain anonymous. Yet she knows what the crowd do not know about Jesus. The miracle has happened and Jesus decides to blow her cover! The question invites us to reflect on who touched Jesus with faith. Who in the crowd is not a member of the crowd? Who has once again become a Daughter of Israel? The one who was called a ‘woman’ is now called a ‘daughter’. She and the one Jesus calls, “Little girl” , out of the vast crowd, are the only ones to be healed. Jesus knew who it was who had touched Him. The woman recognised who Jesus was when others around Him did not. His power is passed to her. Shared with her. She knows who Jesus is. The crowd do not. She has faith. The crowd do not. She has understanding and love. The crowd do not. She touched Jesus and was healed. The crowd touched Jesus but were not healed. Am I healed or am I merely part of the pressing crowd? Have I learned who Jesus is? When life is tough; when my problems seem insurmountable; when my weakness seems incurable then I can pray, “I touched you, Lord. Send the woman to me to teach me how to touch you.”
Monsignor Monaghan
