July 7 - Monday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I

(Gn.28:10-22;   Ps.91:1-4,14-15;   Mt.9:18-26)

 

“Know that I am with you;

I will protect you wherever you go.”

 

What the Lord says here to Jacob, He says indeed to all of us:  He will protect us on our journey; let us but take refuge in Him.  Our dearest Jesus is the abode of God, and in Him our souls are safe.

As Jacob sets forth alone from the land of Canaan, he fears that he shall not return to this place of His promised inheritance.  But the Lord comes to him in a dream to stand “beside him” and assure him that the promise is firm: “I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you.”  With these words of encouragement and the vision of heaven’s ladder still in his mind, Jacob cries out in “solemn wonder” of that place in which the Lord revealed Himself to His servant.  He sets up a memorial stone, thereby to mark “God’s abode.”

Our psalm today sings of the Lord’s protection upon those who trust in Him.  He answers our call in distress, rescues us from “the snare of the fowler,” and gives us refuge.  Thus we “dwell in the shelter of the Most High,” abiding in His shadow, covered by His wings of blessed protection.  “Because he clings to me, I will deliver him,” says our psalmist in the voice of the Lord; and indeed we know that trusting in Him is our salvation.

And in our gospel we discover where such refuge lies; we find Him who is the true house of God, and we are shown the faith which is necessary to make our home there.  What Jesus says to the woman, He says to His whole Church: “Courage, daughter!  Your faith has restored you to health.”  Her great faith told her she needed but to “touch his cloak,” but to press up against the