Homily for the Memorial of Saint Scholastica

Our Gospel today emphasizes Jesus' incredible popularity among the people of Galilee. He especially attracted the sick and broken because God's healing power was clearly at work through Him. People were hurrying to bring their sick to Him. People begged Him to let them touch even the tassel on His cloak. 

We often seek out the Lord with the greatest sense of urgency in our brokenness and weakness. Something happens to us that causes us to see our vulnerability, weakness, and inability to manage things unaided.

When we face our frailties, those experiences reinforce our recognition of the need for and dependence on the Lord. Often, life's darker and more painful experiences open us up to the Lord.

When St. Paul struggled with his "thorn in the flesh," he heard the Risen Lord say, "My power is made perfect in weakness." Our recognition of our weaknesses can be the opening through which we reach out to and encounter God.