St. John Chrysostom's

By touching Jesus, her expectation was that the healing power that Jesus beholds would be directly transferred to the woman, and she may be healed of her disease. She touches him and immediately her hemorrhages stop, and she is healed by the power of Jesus. The supernatural power that is being described is the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus could feel when the woman touched him that the power was being directed to her. In response, Jesus asks “Who touched my clothes?” (5:30). The woman is terrified because it was inappropriate in their culture for a woman to touch a man who was not in her immediate family. She trembles with fear and confesses what she has done to him. Jesus calms her by saying, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease”

Her son showed up shortly after and they were able to be together again and comfort each other (76). On page 78 God gives Mary comfort through a passage she finds in the book of Jeremiah in the bible. Later, she described herself as blessed because she was the only Christian captive left in the tribe (80). She continued to rejoice at every opportunity she was given and on page 84, while going to visit her son, she gets lost in the woods. Even though she could not find him, she still praised God for keeping her

Then the angels told them to not be afraid, that he knew the purpose of their coming was to seek the crucified Jesus and asked, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?” The angels reminded them that Jesus told them when He was in Galilee that He must be delivered to sinful men, be crucified, and would rise again on the third day. Then the two angels told the women to not be afraid, that he knew the purpose of why they were at the grave, that the Lord is no longer there, but they could come and see where He laid. The women went into the tomb, saw a man sitting on the right in a long white garment. These frightened ladies were told not to be afraid, to go speedily, tell His disciples that Jesus is risen from the dead and goes before them into Galilee, and would see Him there (Matthew 28:5-7; Luke

Jesus replied to her, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:24). What??? And with remarkable insight and persistence, she replied,

Jesus was able to teach the woman that He is the Living Water. Like Nicodemus, she was confused at first and asked how he would be able to give her water when he had nothing to draw it out of the well with. Jesus explained to her that what he would give to her would be water that whosoever drink of it, would never thirst and would spring them up to everlasting life. When she realized the Jesus is the Messiah, she was able to discern that

There a number of reasons why the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman was inappropriate in the historical and cultural context. First of all, the Samaritans were considered a second class Jew because they intermarried with the Assyrians and indulged in pagan traditions. Even though they were descendants of the Jews, there were ongoing conflicts between the Jews, and the Samaritans were not allowed to offer sacrifices at the Jerusalem temple, so they built their own. They believed that the Bible consisted of only the Pentateuch and it variated from the teachings of the Israelites. Additionally, the Samaritans did not welcome any Jews and if the Jews had to travel through this land, they were to “shake the dirt off their feet”.

This particular work of Christ is only found in the Gospel of Luke and not mentioned in the other three, this particular situation echoes the raising of the widows son by Elijah (1Kgs 17:20-23). Not only does the passage create a similar situation to that of Elijah, but also uses almost identical language within the Septuagint (Greek translation of Old Testament) such as “και ἐδωκεν αὐτον τῃ μητρἰ αὐτου” or “and He gave him to the mother of him”, this is used in Luke

You see folks, Jesus lived in a world of privilege as well, Palestine of the day was filled with people of different backgrounds and this is a story of confrontation between cultures, where we have to ask the question, was Jesus racist?

119) and doing something the other people would not do and that’s talking to the lost people, which was a woman of Samaria at the well. He secondly “crossed barriers to bring her the gospel” (Earley & Wheeler, 2010, p. 120). The gospel is for every person no matter what his or her race, social position, or past sins is. Next, he “turned the conversation to spiritual matters” and then “listened to her” (Earley & Wheeler, 2010, p. 120). Thirdly he “stayed focus on God’s provision for her spiritual need” (Earley & Wheeler, 2010, p. 121). The woman did not immediately understand what Jesus was talking about. Jesus did allow the woman time to ask questions and put pieces together for herself. With this Samaritan woman “Jesus did not pick the fruit too quickly and pointed out her sins to her” (Earley & Wheeler, 2010, p. 121). Lastly “Jesus called for the woman to submit her life and worship the Father in Spirit and Truth” (Earley & Wheeler, 2010, p. 123). Finally, “Jesus introduce himself to her” (Earley & Wheeler, 2010, p. 124). The final step is the most important because Jesus Christ is the matter in the salvation (Earley & Wheeler, 2010, p.

St. Mary’s Cathedral was almost exactly what you’d expect it to be. A large hall with an endless amount of pews facing towards the apse where a large depiction of Christ crucified hung above a the seat of worship reserved for the parish priest. The innumerable amount of stained-glass windows near the top of the church provided enough light to make navigating the aisle possible. In contrast the seat of worship was only illuminated by the faint glow of the candles which burned bright enough to reveal the shadow of a human splayed out across the seat.

Mary Magdalene is one of my favorite people in the bible. She is loyal, strong and persistent. She was such an eager disciple and did not let her weaknesses stop her from serving and learning from the Lord. So in this Gospel reading I see her vulnerable, weak and anxious. A moment of devastating pain as she discover the body of Jesus was missing from the tomb. As I read the passage I highlighted a few phrases and the one that spoke loudly to me was when “Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” As I picture Mary crying and mourning with confusion and anxiety I can’t help to think how in the midst of sorrow and pain I too have been so blinded by emotion

This seems harsh and cruel at first, but Jesus in reality was testing her faith and belief that he was the Messiah, the promised one of God. He wanted the woman and his disciples in particular to understand fully that His ministry was very focused. And that his mission, at that time, was to save the lost sheep of Israel. Nevertheless, when she kept persisting, he marveled at her faith, which was stronger than any Jew he ever met, and healed her daughter.

It was high noon on a hot day. Jesus, tired from traveling, chose to rest at Jacob's well near the town of Sychar, while waiting for His disciples to go into town for food. An unnamed Samaritan woman came to draw water at a well. She hated facing others because the Jews despised her people, and she was an outcast looked down upon even by her own people. This woman was ostracized and marked as immoral, an unmarried woman living openly with the sixth in a series of men. She could not have guessed the surprise she was about to encounter that day.

When she broke her jar, the fragrance of oil filled the air. The liquid dripped, bathing His feet. Her tears flowed from everything within her. For when she broke her alabaster, she broke every part of herself before Him. She didn't care who witnessed or what they said. She hadn't come to worship them; she had come to worship Him.

St. Paul’s Cathedral is an English Baroque styled cathedral dedicated to Paul of Apostle and the second cathedral to be built on the same site, first being Old St. Paul’s Cathedral which was also dedicated to Paul of Apostle. It is located in the City of London, England.