Fr. Paul D. Scalia: Cultural or Intentional?

By Fr. Paul D. Scalia, The Catholic Thing, June 27, 2021

Fr. Paul Scalia is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, VA, where he serves as Episcopal Vicar for Clergy and Pastor of Saint James in Falls Church. …

“But his disciples said to Jesus, ‘You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, “Who touched me?”’” (Mk 5:31) One sympathizes with the disciples. Our Lord’s question seems unreasonable. He’s a celebrity, after all. The entire town and countryside turn out to see Him. They want to be close to Him, maybe out of devotion, but just as likely out of a desire to say that they saw Him. There’s the inevitable jostling of the crowd and many people probably bumped into Him.

But one person touches Him differently. The woman with the hemorrhage reaches out to touch His cloak intentionally, with faith. Many people just happen to bump into Him. Only one touches Him. This contrast provides a way to consider a tension we’re experiencing now, between a cultural and an intentional Catholicism. …

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