Dear Friend 

Reflection by Carlos Vargas Hernandez

The Tassel of His Cloak

I believe it was the fourth day of our pilgrimage in the Holy Land when we had the opportunity to visit Magdala, the town of Mary Magdalene. There, I had a grace-filled experience at the Church of Duc in Altum.  What really touched the deepest corner of my heart was the story of the woman who suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years and was healed by Jesus.  The scene is beautifully portrayed in the amazing painting by Daniel Cariola that depicts the woman  reaching out to Christ. The depiction encouraged me to ask myself about how I reach out to the Good Lord, or more precisely, how I am trying to touch Him?

According to the Gospel, the woman “came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak” (Lk. 9:20). She believed “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” (Lk. 9:21)  In Cariola’s painting, I see the hand of the woman struggling to just touch the cloak of Jesus.  She clearly is prostrated on the ground.  There are enormous feet near her; they even look like giants’ feet!

I was astonished to see how the woman even in the midst of the crowd, she desires to reach Jesus’ cloak and to touch the tassel of it. It appears that the woman does not care about the crowds, or even if people might step on her arm; she just wants to touch Jesus’ tassel and  be cured.  She is rewarded for her effort, as Jesus turns around and says to her, “‘Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.’ And from that hour the woman was cured” (Lk. 9:22).

I  believe that like this woman of faith we need to have an encounter with Jesus and be healed from whatever situation or sentiment might be preventing us from reaching out to Him. What better time than the season of Lent! This is a season in which we are called “to repent and to believe in the Gospel” (Mk. 1:15). This is the season in which we may have a transforming encounter with the Lord, so we may be healed from both our spiritual and physical impediments. We need to be cured of everything that stands in our way of “putting out into the deep water” (Lk. 5:4) of His loving care. He is waiting for us so that we may be both healed and saved. 

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Carlos Vargas Hernandez is a First Theology seminarian for the Diocese of Paterson, N.J.