Words take a back seat to touch

October 8, 2006 -- 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Fr. Michael Stubbs

	Fr. Mike Stubbs

After Sunday Mass, a little boy, about five years old, will frequently approach me and insist on my giving him a blessing. He has a very precise idea of what constitutes a blessing. It is not enough for me to speak words of blessing or to make the sign of the cross over him. I must touch his forehead with my thumb and make the sign of the cross. The touching is indispensable.

The idea of associating a blessing with the action of touching dates back to earliest times. For example in the Old Testament, when Jacob approaches Isaac on his deathbed for a blessing intended for his older brother Esau, he disguises himself with animal skins so that he will feel like his hairier brother Esau to the touch. (Genesis 27:1-29) Similarly, when Israel is about to die, he blesses Ephraim and Manasseh by first placing his hands on their heads, and then speaking words of blessing. (Genesis 48:14, 15)

In the Greek and Latin languages, the verb "to bless" literally means "to speak well." Its etymology reflects the importance of speaking words when giving a blessing. We might compare it to the English, "to wish well." On the other hand, in the Hebrew language, the verb "to bless" literally means "to bend the knee, to kneel." It originally referred to worship of God. "To bless" meant "to praise God, to glorify God, to say good things about God." Only by extension did it come to mean "to ask good things from God, to ask God's favor upon other human beings." Admittedly, the blessing would ordinarily include the speaking of words, as attested in the earlier mentioned passages in the Old Testament. At the same time, the Hebrew word for blessing did not have embedded in it a verbal dimension, as did the comparable words in Greek and Latin.

Sunday's gospel reading, Mark 10:2-16, shows us the familiar scene of Jesus welcoming the children and blessing them. The narrative emphasizes the element of touch. "And people were bringing children to him, that he might touch them. ... Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them."

While the narrative does not exclude the possibility of Jesus' saying words of blessing, it does not specifically state that he does so. Instead, speaking words takes a back seat to the tactile element; "touch, embrace, placing his hands on them." Rather than speaking words of blessing, Jesus addresses words of rebuke to his disciples, who have tried to prevent the children from approaching him. Jesus also speaks words of teaching, in his saying, "Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."

Jesus had earned quite a reputation among the crowd as a healer. When he healed the sick, that process often included the action of touching. "He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him." (Mark 3:10) It is natural, then, that when seeking a blessing from Jesus for their children, parents would also expect his touch to convey that blessing.

There is a lesson for us in this. Whether we seek healing or blessing from Jesus Christ, it goes beyond a mere verbal transaction. He touches our hearts and our minds.

(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)