One another, Sunday13B

June 30, 2024

Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Psalm (29) 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43

In gratitude for what has been, in hope for what will be, let us offer our prayers to the God of life and joy:

For our Church and parish, that we may be a community rich in the love of Christ: let us pray to the Lord.

For Pope N., Bishop N., Father N., and the bishops, priests, and deacons of our Church, that their ministries may touch the people they serve with compassion and understanding: let us pray to the Lord.

For the nations and peoples of the world, that they may recognize, respect, and affirm the dignity of every person made in the very image of God: let us pray to the Lord.

For all parents and guardians, that, like Jairus, they may seek the love and kindness of God for their children: let us pray to the lord.

For those who mourn and grieve, for families divided, for those consumed by despair and fear, that the love of God may transform their “mourning into dancing”: let us pray to the Lord.

For the faithful who have died [especially _________], that they may rise to the new life of the Risen Christ: let us pray to the Lord.

For the prayers we now make in the silence of our hearts [Pause...]: let us pray to the Lord.

Lord of all hopefulness, Author of all goodness, hear our prayers. Do not let us surrender our hope to fear, but may your Spirit inspire us to trust always in what is right and good.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bb, June 30). Thirteenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/063024.cfm

-Cormier, J. (1995). Lord, Hear Our Prayer: Prayer of the Faithful for Sundays, Holy Days, and Ritual Masses.

The Word today, W13B

July 01 - July 06, 2024

Monday 01 July

St Oliver Plunkett, bishop and martyr

Amos 2:6-10, 13-16 Economic prosperity was built on the back of the poor. The prophet does not hesitate to name it as it is. God is a liberator God who wants justice and freedom for his people.

Matthew 8:18-22 The conditions of discipleship are daunting and, yet, the stories are unfinished and open-ended…

Tuesday 02 July

Amos 3:1-8, 4:11-12 Severely, Amos reminds us that everything has its cause and purpose.

Matthew 8:23-27 The storm and the boat symbolize the experience of the church. The prayer of the disciples could easily be ours today.

Wednesday 03 July

St Thomas, apostle

Ephesians 2:19-22 This short reading is rich in resonance: it presents the Christian life as a home coming (something most of us have experienced), a being built into a house of God.

John 20:24-29 It is interesting that this story survives in p o p u l a r m e m o r y a s “ d o u b t i n g Thomas.” And yet, the central point is his tremendous faith and confession: my Lord and my God, the highest confession of Jesus’ identity in the entire Gospel of John.

Thursday 04 July

St Elizabeth of Portugal

Amos 7:10-17 Amos disturbed the powers that be and in response they tried to silence the prophet. The higher clergy collaborate with the king to get at him, but Amos never falters. The silencing of prophets might perhaps have a special resonance for us at this time.

Matthew 9:1-8 The question is a good one: it is apparently much easier to say your sins are forgiven because the effects are unseen!

Friday 05 July

St Antony Mary Zaccaria, priest

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 Here is a classic prophetic cry. Amos reminds the people that economic prosperity is a passing illusion and won’t last. Rank injustice, a fruit of that false flourishing, will come to the attention of God. Above all, God’s wants justice for all the people.

Matthew 9:9-13 This story is well remembered and with good reason. After the negative reaction of the Pharisees (who seemingly don’t dare to confront Jesus himself), the Lord speaks three sentences, each worth a meditation in itself.

Saturday 06 July

St Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr St Monnine, hermit

Amos 9:11-15 Prophets can seem predominantly negative and certainly Amos had negative things to say. But even these are expressions of God’s faithfulness. In today passage, it is that very faithfulness of God which is the focus: in spite of everything, God will restore his people.

Matthew 9:14-17 The real focus of this little dispute is the sheer novelty of the proclamation of Jesus, a novelty marked by a break in religious practice. Apart from the forty days in the desert, it seems Jesus did not fast and this scandalised some. But old practices were not adequate to celebrate the radically new teaching of Jesus.

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bb, June 30). Thirteenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/063024.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/

SOCL, Sunday13B

Sunday June 30, 2024

Jesus took her by the hand and said to her, “Little girl, get up!”

See

We may miss the shock factor in both stories today. Given the strict rules surrounding ritual purity, it was unprecedented that a woman with some kind of gynaecological complaint should actually touch a man. Conversely, Jesus touched a corpse, also strictly forbidden and entailing ritual impurity. Both acted courageously and against the established tradition for the sake of something greater.

Listen

Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Psalm (29) 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43

Reflect

(Mark 5:21-23)

-Like this woman, have you had the experience of a cure, an improvement, a success, after a long period of nothing happening? What was that like for you? What made the difference? On that occasion was there anything different in you, in others, in the circumstances – something that paved the way for the change or improvement?

-“Who touched me?” Jesus asked. It seems a strange request with crowds milling around. Many people brushed against him but the woman made contact in a different way. The same can happen in our relationships. We brush against many people but make real contact only with a few. Who are the people you have touched, and who has touched you? What difference has this made to you and to them?

-It can happen that there are many occasions when we brush against Jesus, and other occasions when we have a sense that we are in contact with him. What deepens your contact with Jesus?

-Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has made you well’. What difference does it make to you that you have faith? In what ways does your faith make you well?

-When Jairus asked Jesus to come and cure his daughter, some thought there was no point. Sometimes a situation can look like a lost cause. Has it ever happened to you that subsequent events showed there was hope where you thought there was none?

Pray

God of the living, in whose image we have been formed with imperishable life as our destiny, dispel from your people the fear of death and awaken within us the faith that saves. Bid us rise from the death of sin to take our place in the new creation. This prayer we make through your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bb, June 30). Thirteenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/063024.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/