Jesus’ miracles, as presented in today’s Gospel, are more than simple healings. They are acts of restoration—from social and religious isolation, and even from death itself. The second case is clear enough. Jesus says the little girl is sleeping, which is true in a deeper sense, for before God, death is but a falling asleep in order to awaken in God’s Kingdom. Yet, to demonstrate this truth—and with genuine compassion—Jesus restores her to life.

The woman healed of the haemorrhage is also restored from what must have seemed a life worse than death. Her condition, under Jewish ritual law, rendered her ‘unclean’—unable to worship or to touch another without rendering them impure. Imagine her isolation and desperation, having spent all her resources in vain.

We all bleed. We all carry within us the wounds of death—whether physically, emotionally, or in the hidden struggles of self-worth. We fall into sin, and no resources of our own can save us. In Christ, we find not only a sign of hope but an effective remedy.

Despite being touched by the woman—an act that would have made him ritually impure—Jesus is not angry. He is the one who bears the sin of the world, even as he proclaims reconciliation. In him, hope has no limits, for in him is a love that conquers even the grave.

We are invited to trust him, so that we too may hear those salvific words with joy: ‘Take heart, your faith has made you well.’

 By Fr Michael Grace