Lumen Fidei #12: To Touch with our Hearts

Source: http://www.lushquotes.com/

From #31: Saint Augustine, commenting on the account of the woman suffering from haemorrhages who touched Jesus and was cured (cf. Lk 8:45-46), says: "To touch him with our hearts; that is what it means to believe."

The woman with the haemorrhages. She'd been bleeding for years. Scholars say it was likely a gynecological issue which would mean that no man could touch her and be ritually clean. She was so sure that Jesus could heal her that she reached out and touched His robes. All He felt was someone tug on His clothes and some power leave Him. When Jesus questioned the crowd to see who had touched Him, she reluctantly came forward knowing that as a bleeding woman, she had no right to touch a man. But Jesus doesn't rebuke her. He says simply that her faith has healed her and tells her to go in peace.

I am originally from the "show me" state. We all value what our senses tell us as true. Right now, we cannot directly see God. We can see Him in creation. We can feel His love through other people. But we cannot see Him Himself. The closest we can get is to touch Him with our hearts, to believe. As Jesus says to Thomas:

Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” - John 20:29