text: long ago, I realized the story about Jesus and the woman with the issue of blood was about this.  I think it goes especially about what the priestly ministry is about...the power of Jesus flows through the priest as it did through his cloak, bringing healing through the sacraments.   the same goes for all of us when we receive the sacraments, Jesus' power goes through us to bring healing to one another and the world.   the power is not ours, but his.  that is why clericalism has no place, the clergy are merely the conduits of grace and the same for all of us as well.   that is why those who worry so much about the purity of those who receive sacraments, about the freedom of all men and women to receive them is so misplaced.  the clergy do not own them, the laity does not own them, even the church does not own them, they are all nothing but conduits.   it is the water company that says who may receive water, not the pipes that deliver it.