Healing Touch

 

A friend of mine once thought he was having a heart attack and drove himself to the  emergency room where I met him.  It turns out he had a panic attack.   For those of you familiar with panic attacks, you know how scary they can be.  Hoping to soothe his fears, I put my hand on his back .  Then, I remembered how uncomfortable my friend felt about people touching him.  I pulled away and just as immediately he said,  “Please, keep your hand on my back.”  At a time of fear and vulnerability, my friend needed the caring touch of another human.

The liturgical rites of the church often express the caring touch of God through the laying on of hands.  From the earliest centuries, we have evidence that the laying on of hands was used in connection with confirmation to evoke the Holy Spirit.   We see the laying on of hands in various sacraments, including confirmation and the anointing of the sick.

For the next three weekends, we will see this gesture being used with the Elect (the unbaptized) at the scrutiny rites.   The scrutinies are exorcisms designed to uncover and heal all that  might prevent the Elect from reaching the waters  of baptism.   The scrutinies acknowledge that sin and evil are real,  and that all too often we are agents of these forces.   Admitting that we have participated in sin and evil can be scary and can leave us feeling very vulnerable.  But the gesture of the laying on of hands in the scrutiny  reminds the Elect (and all of us) that we are not alone.  The Holy Spirit and the community are there, offering comfort and strengthening us when we are afraid and vulnerable.

O God, help us to know that you are there in times of weakness.  Strengthen us with your healing touch.  AMEN.