Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
People like to be around holiness.
Consider the way people clamored to be around the newly canonized Teresa of Calcutta. Consider the way people lined up for blocks to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis while he was in the United States almost a year ago. And in today’s Gospel 
reading from Luke 6, we are reminded that everyone in the crowd wanted to touch Jesus “because power came forth from him and healed them all.”
Now, Teresa wasn’t a great orator, nor is Francis. But anyone who was near them can attest to the feeling of healing that came from them as well. It’s in us all. Because, you see, healing isn’t always about curing blindness or deafness or bringing people back from the dead. It can be relieving a friend who’s weighed down by caregiving at home. It can be sending a card to someone who’s struggling at work. It can be listening to someone talk about how the grief of losing a loved one just feels like too much to bear, months or years after the loss occurred.
Think about the people—family members, friends, and others—you most like to be around. Chances are they’re not the ones with the best jokes or the best education or the most expensive house, although they may possess any or all of those things. But it’s likely the reasons you are drawn to them have less to do with those attributes than their listening skills, their compassion, and their kindness.
People like to be around holiness.
