Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Memorial of the first martyrs of the Roman Church during persecution of Nero.

First Reading

Wisdom 1,13-15; 2,23-24

For God did not make Death, he takes no pleasure in destroying the living. To exist -- for this he created all things; the creatures of the world have health in them, in them is no fatal poison, and Hades has no power over the world: for uprightness is immortal. For God created human beings to be immortal, he made them as an image of his own nature; Death came into the world only through the Devil's envy, as those who belong to him find to their cost.

Second Reading

2 Corinthians 8,7.9.13-15

More, as you are rich in everything-faith, eloquence, understanding, concern for everything, and love for us too -- then make sure that you excel in this work of generosity too. You are well aware of the generosity which our Lord Jesus Christ had, that, although he was rich, he became poor for your sake, so that you should become rich through his poverty. It is not that you ought to relieve other people's needs and leave yourselves in hardship; but there should be a fair balance- your surplus at present may fill their deficit, and another time their surplus may fill your deficit. So there may be a fair balance; as scripture says: No one who had collected more had too much, no one who collected less had too little.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Mark 5,21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered round him and he stayed by the lake. Then the president of the synagogue came up, named Jairus, and seeing him, fell at his feet and begged him earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her that she may be saved and may live.' Jesus went with him and a large crowd followed him; they were pressing all round him. Now there was a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years; after long and painful treatment under various doctors, she had spent all she had without being any the better for it; in fact, she was getting worse. She had heard about Jesus, and she came up through the crowd and touched his cloak from behind, thinking, 'If I can just touch his clothes, I shall be saved.' And at once the source of the bleeding dried up, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint. And at once aware of the power that had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my clothes?' His disciples said to him, 'You see how the crowd is pressing round you; how can you ask, "Who touched me?" ' But he continued to look all round to see who had done it. Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. 'My daughter,' he said, 'your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free of your complaint.' While he was still speaking some people arrived from the house of the president of the synagogue to say, 'Your daughter is dead; why put the Master to any further trouble?' But Jesus overheard what they said and he said to the president of the synagogue, 'Do not be afraid; only have faith.' And he allowed no one to go with him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. So they came to the house of the president of the synagogue, and Jesus noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and wailing unrestrainedly. He went in and said to them, 'Why all this commotion and crying? The child is not dead, but asleep.' But they ridiculed him. So he turned them all out and, taking with him the child's father and mother and his own companions, he went into the place where the child lay. And taking the child by the hand he said to her, 'Talitha kum!' which means, 'Little girl, I tell you to get up.' The little girl got up at once and began to walk about, for she was twelve years old. At once they were overcome with astonishment, and he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about it, and told them to give her something to eat.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

There is like an inseparable bond between Jesus and the crowd. It is his compassion that leads him to live among the men and women of this world, with their joys and hopes, their sorrows and anxieties, as the Second Vatican Council recalls in Gaudium et Spes.
The Gospel brings out from this crowd a man, Jairus, and a sick, nameless woman. Both, needy, indeed desperate, approach Jesus. Jairus, a local notable, makes his way through the crowd and on his knees begs Jesus: "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live." He is a rich man, but powerless in the face of evil. And Jesus immediately "goes with him." How many times Jesus repeats to his disciples that both the Father who is in heaven and he listen to those who pray with faith! And on the way, a sick woman mingles among the crowd and comes close to Jesus. She had been trying to cure herself for twelve years, to no avail, spending no small amount of money. Her illness, a continuous loss of blood, was peculiar as it made her permanently impure. And she knew that in her condition she could not touch anyone. She thought it was enough even to touch the fringe of his cloak. She approached him from behind, so as not to be recognized. And indeed, no one noticed her, except Jesus. The disciples see nothing but an anonymous crowd. Jesus sees. Love, as Benedict XVI said, is a heart that sees. Jesus understood that a force had come out of him, as the evangelist writes. And love is always also a force that comes out and leads one to go out, to meet the need of others.
This is what happens immediately afterwards with Jairus' daughter. At the news that the girl is dead, Jairus resigns himself to the inevitable. But Jesus - to the dismay of all - invites him not to lose hope and to follow him. Beside the child - twelve years old, the same age as the illness of the woman with haemorrhage - he calls to her: "Little girl, get up!", the same verb used for the resurrection, takes her by the hand and sets her on her feet. Jesus is the face of God's mercy that is stronger than evil and death.