The Sacrament of Touch

By David Torkington -
In 1986 the Sea of Galilee receded during a drought exposing an ancient fishing boat, 27 feet long by 7.5 feet wide. It was taken to a nearby kibbutz where it was carbon dated. As it was proved to be approximately two thousand years old and designed to carry between 12 and 15 fishermen, the locals called it the 'Jesus boat'.
When a group of tourists were being shown the boat, a young man asked if he could touch it. The archaeologists on duty explained that it was not permitted. However, when he admitted that he had touched the boat himself in the course of his work, the young man immediately touched him, and his fellow pilgrims followed suit. It all happened so naturally, so spontaneously that it demonstrated a deep belief that something precious can be communicated by touch.
It is a conviction that is at the heart of the gospel story, which begins with a very special touch. It is the touch of God. When the 'finger of God's right hand' touched the Virgin Mary, she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit so that the love of God himself was made flesh within her womb. As he grew 'in wisdom and understanding’ under the influence of the love that had conceived him in the first place, he was able to communicate to others something of what he had received by his own sacred touch.

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