Resurrection

We have five senses. They are all symbolic – in one way or another.

For instance, smell is symbolic of curiosity, taste is symbolic of desire.

Touch is the most essential.

Without it, we could not drive a car, hold a fork, or walk. In addition, and most importantly, touch is symbolic of love:

Who greets their loved ones by standing at a distance? No, we embrace. We touch.

The Gospels are replete with Jesus touching and healing people:

Jesus approaches, grasps her hand, and raises her up (Mark 1).

We should take note of this intimate connection between touch and love, since the ultimate touch is by the eternal Father.

Commenting, Mary Healy observes:

This woman’s recovery from illness is a foreshadowing of the resurrection on the last day (Gospel of Mark, 49).

For when we come to the resurrection of Jesus, we are told explicitly that the Father raises his Son from the clutches of death and deterioration (Mark 16).

Mark is employing the exact same word for the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and for the resurrection of Jesus:

Can we identify healings in our life? Can we see that they are a foretaste of the resurrection?

Amen.