Inspired by Scholastica

 

 

Bent-Over Woman

 

When [Jesus] laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. (Luke 13:13)

 

The synagogue leaders shun me,

deem me demented, possessed by demons.

Stooped in body, crushed in spirit,


I hobble to the synagogue, hidden,

eyes riveted to the ground. Then the Master

calls me; hesitant, I shuffle toward him,

dazed and fearful, unable to lift my head.

 

Jesus touches me and I feel my body

straighten, my eyes lift to see his face.

Joy floods my soul. Amazing the crowd,

I can stand up again after eighteen years

of being horizontal to the ground.

He calls me a “daughter of Abraham,”

making me part of the family of Israel.

 

Jesus defied Jewish law by speaking to me,

a woman, in public, touching me, curing me

on the Sabbath. He stood up for me and

for all those bent over by injustice, hatred,

fear or sickness. For when one is crushed,

all are debased and diminished; when one

is raised up, all have dignity and worth.

 

Barbara Mayer, OSB 

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