Monday 4 July 2022

Today is Monday the 4th of July, in the 14th week of Ordinary Time.

Eliza King sings, ‘All Things New’. As you listen, take a moment to notice where God might be making things new in your life at the moment…

You break like the light of the sun
Bringing colour to shadows
Christ, it was you all along
You’re the words to an ancient song we’ve been singing

Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new

You rise, as the bright morning star
We were blind but we see you now
The light of the world here with us
You’re a fire making holy ground, by your spirit

Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new

You’re the treasure of the ages
Sought for generations
How the prophets longed to see what we have seen
You’re the final word incarnate
Leaping from the pages
You’re the burning heart behind the mystery

Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new
Behold, He makes all things new

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 9:18-26
While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.’ Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute-players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, ‘Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Two miraculous healings here, one interrupting the other. Can you imagine how the leader of the synagogue felt when Jesus agreed to go with him to cure his sick child? And what would he then have felt like when this woman delays Jesus’s arrival?

Now turn your attention to the woman with the haemorrhages. How would her own feelings have changed as her part of this story unfolds?

As the passage is read again, try to view the whole story through the eyes of the synagogue leader.

You might like, at this point in the prayer, to approach Jesus with the confidence that these two characters show. Speak to him of your own need for healing, or the need of someone you know.


Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.