Devotion for today: I hunger for your touch

Love does not need to be expressed in words.

Scripture for meditation: Mark 1:30-31

Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and the first thing they did was to tell Him about her. He went over to her and grasped her hand and helped her up, and the fever left her.

Christ tells us: Matthew 25:35

 “For I was hungry and you gave me food”

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta tells us:  Love is not patronizing, and charity isn’t pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same – with charity you give love, so don’t just give money, but reach out your hand instead. When I was in London, I went to see the homeless people where our Sisters have a soup kitchen. One man, who was living in a cardboard box, held my hand and said, “It’s been a long time since I felt the warmth of a human hand.” Nigel describes his experience at our home for the destitute and dying in Calcutta: “When I went to help at Nirmal Hriday I hated the place because of the suffering, and I felt absolutely useless. I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’  Later, when I got back to Britain, I had a long conversation with one of the Sisters about it. I told her I quickly learned sign language so I could sort out the difference between someone asking for a drink of water or for a bedpan, and get it the right way round. But, apart from that, I hadn’t done a lot. I mostly sat on people’s beds and stroked them or fed them. You got some recognition sometimes, but not a lot other times, because they’re on their last legs. So when the Sister asked me how I’d got on I said, ‘I was there.’ And she said to me, “What was St. John or Our Blessed Mother doing at the foot of the cross?” (Mother Teresa, A Simple Path, compiled by Lucinda Vardey, Ballentine Books, 199 

Prayer: The following is the prayer every Missionary of Charity says before leaving for his or her Apostolate. It is also used as the Physician’s prayer in Shishu Bhavan, the Children’s Home in Calcutta (Mother Teresa, A Simple Path, compiled by Lucinda Vardey, Ballentine Books, 1995).

Dear Lord, the Great Healer, I kneel before You, since every perfect gift must come from You. I pray, give skill to my hands, clear vision to my mind, kindness and meekness to my heart. Give me singleness of purpose, strength to lift up a part of the burden of my suffering fellow man, and a true realization of the privilege that is mine. Take from my heart all guile and worldliness, that with the simple faith of a child, I may rely on You.

My thoughts: We all know the power of human touch. As children we clamor for our parents’ hands when we are afraid. As adults we absolutely need a hug of reassurance. Pick up a crying baby and rub his back, and he stops crying. Hold the hand of an elderly person, and a smile as warm as the sun breaks across his or her face. Christ used His touch to heal so many people. The Bishop lays his hands on the men to ordain them.  The priest takes the host in his hands for consecration. Our hands emit power, love and mercy. We cannot deny that Nigel, in the above reflection, was moved by the power of his touch to the forgotten and unwanted in society. Sometimes we remove ourselves from a difficult situation with the excuse, “I wouldn’t know what to say. I’m not good with words.” We don’t need to be good with words. A warm embrace, a loving touch, just being there, sitting next to someone in pain, is enough. Love expressed in touch and presence feeds Christ’s people. After all, “What was St. John or Our Blessed Mother doing at the foot of the cross?”

Our prayer to God: Dear God, help me to give of myself today, through a loving embrace, or though the gift of my presence. Help me to reach out and touch someone in need, to hug my family, friends and those who feel abandoned and forgotten. Let me be You to them. Amen.