Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 28, 2015
Gospel
Mk 5:21-43
When Jesus had
crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him,
and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus,
came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him,
saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on
her that she may get well and live.” He went off with him, and a large crowd
followed him and pressed upon him.
There was a woman
afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the
hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped
but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the
crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be
cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she
was healed of her affliction (1). Jesus, aware
at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked,
“Who has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to Jesus, “You see how the
crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked
around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the
whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace
and be cured of your affliction.”
While he was still
speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your
daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” Disregarding the
message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be
afraid; just have faith.” He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the
house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion
(2), people weeping and wailing loudly. So he
went in and said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not
dead but asleep.” And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took
along the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the
room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her,
“Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a
child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly
astounded (3). He gave strict orders that no one
should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.
The difficult words
(1) Affliction means a cause of great
suffering and distress.
(2) A commotion is noisy, confused
activity.
(3) Be astounded is
filled with surprise or shock.
This week’s
spotlight
The origin of sin
In the story of
Creation, sin comes to the garden of Eden in the form of a serpent. The serpent
represents the devil. Devil comes from a
Greek word meaning "he who divides” or “he who opposes." Since the devil
cannot act against God, he turns to
humans to deceive them away from God, who loves them. He will deceive Eve by
saying that she has nothing to worry about and that she can taste the fruit of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It is this demon's jealousy which made
death enter into the world.
The eucharistic prayer
The word
"Eucharist” and the adjective "eucharistic" come from a Greek
word meaning "thanks." The eucharistic prayer is addressed to God our
Father. We thank him in many ways: we praise him, we bless him, we adore him,
we give him glory. This great prayer ends with the words "Through him,
with him, in him,” meaning that it is said through Jesus, with Jesus, and in
Jesus. The entire congregation, united by the Holy Spirit, joins in the prayer
of the priest by responding, “Amen.” Because we are united in prayer as
brothers and sisters, we all continue by saying the prayer of God's children: “Our
Father...”
Reflection
He who saves
Overwhelmed
with sorrow, a man comes up to Jesus and asks him to save his daughter, who is
gravely ill. On their way to his home, some of the man’s friends inform him
that it is too late: the child is dead. Jesus reacts before the man falls to
the ground in grief. He orders him to keep his faith, to trust in him. In
Hebrew, the name Jesus means “God saves.” Even though the little girl seems
dead, Jesus has the power to wake her up. This is what he does: he takes her
hand and orders her to get up. When all seems lost, Jesus is the one who comes
to rescue us; he is our Savior. Jesus invites us to turn to him in prayer and
ask for help, because, for God, nothing is impossible. He only needs to say one
word in order to save us from suffering and death. Jesus, you who wake us up
from the sleep of death, only say the word and we shall be saved.
Bringing the Gospel into Your Family
Does
your family know people who are sick? Make a prayer card for these people and
lift them up in prayer every day. You might even send them a cheerful note or
card and let them know your family is praying for them.
Discussion
questions
1. How many people
were cured by Jesus?
2. What did Jesus say
to the woman after He cured her?
3. What does Jairus
ask Jesus to do for his daughter?
4. What happens while
Jesus is walking to Jairus's house?
5. What does Jesus
do?
6. What do we learn
from the woman and the man whose daughter was saved from death?
Praying after Communion
After receiving Holy Communion, you can
say this prayer silently to yourself. If you
have not yet
received your First Communion, you can still say this prayer because of your desire to
receive Jesus.
Father, through Jesus, in
communion with the whole Church, I thank you for coming into my heart. Thank
you for being so confident in me that you want to come to me in the Holy
Eucharist. May this communion in the body and blood of Jesus help me to place
all my confidence in you.
Crossword Puzzle
