Deacon Tom Anthony

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 98

Reading I

God did not make death,
   nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.
For he fashioned all things that they might have being;
   and the creatures of the world are wholesome,
and there is not a destructive drug among them
   nor any domain of the netherworld on earth,
   for justice is undying.
For God formed man to be imperishable;
   the image of his own nature he made him.
But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world,
   and they who belong to his company experience it.

Responsorial Psalm

30:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13

R. (2a) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
   and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the netherworld;
   you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
   and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
   a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
   but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
   O LORD, be my helper.
You changed my mourning into dancing;
   O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Reading II

2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15

Brothers and sisters:
As you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse,
knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you,
may you excel in this gracious act also.

For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Not that others should have relief while you are burdened,
but that as a matter of equality
your abundance at the present time should supply their needs,
so that their abundance may also supply your needs,
that there may be equality.
As it is written:
Whoever had much did not have more,
and whoever had little did not have less.

Alleluia

Cf. 2 Tm 1:10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mk 5:21-43 or 5:21-24, 35b-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.
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,
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.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

We are reminded through The Scripture Readings today that God did not create death and had no intention of making death a part of His creation. Death came into this world through Original Sin and our rebellion against God. The abuse of our free will, first revealed through the sin of Adam and Eve, continues today and is a defect found in every person. There is no one without sin and there is no one who has not put their will, wants, and desires before that which is God’s. Where there is suffering there is also the stain of Original Sin and the presence of evil. Where there is death there is also that which God did not want but we chose to have. God created us in His own image but, when offered an inferior alternative with the promise of being gods ourselves, we took the offer and continue to choose it today. It is a perpetual choice where we fail to make the right choice most of the time. Even though we may suffer from a separation from God there is a part of us that is at times is truly convinced that we can overcome this suffering and actually be better off without the help of God. These thoughts and actions ultimately interfere with our relationship with God; leaving us brokenness and unfulfilled.

In the Book of Genesis and the Book of Enoch, which predates Genesis but is not found in the Hebrew Canon, we learn of the temptations of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that we are always ready to accept in exchange for disobedience to God. These temptations then grow to include all that is earthly which stimulates our fleshly desires; satisfying them for the moment but then leaving us longing for more. With a focus on things that are corporal things that are spiritual become foreign; untenable while we act on our carnal wants and needs. A distortion of the good occurs and instead of being witnesses and partakers of God’s creation, as He intended us to be, we become directors in a bad do-over of the perfection of God. What we create can never match that which is from God. What we create is always in the realm of the finite while that which is God is infinite. As long as we choose to conduct ourselves this way and do not seek an alternative to this state of being we too will be finite and face a destruction which comes to all things that are not from God: an inevitable encounter with complete death.

Even though this may sound pretty bleak it is only a report of our current condition which does not have to be permanent. There is obviously the better way which is a right relationship with God. God reminds us of His presence and the hope He offers with the vision He offers of The Garden of Eden. Centered in the garden were two trees: one was The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the other was The Tree of Life which we have come to know as The Cross of Christ. Even in darkest of night The Light of Christ shines through to offer us a pathway out of the calamities which have befallen us. Even before we were created God knew that He would be rejected in favor of us abusing our free will and, because of that, He presented the solution before the problem even entered the equation: His only begotten Son would enter creation and bring it back to perfection; bringing us with it to eternal life. We are God’s children and, just like any good father, He is willing to go to any things to insure our safety and security. He is our safety net and protector.

In The Gospel Reading today Jesus brings a twelve-year old girl back to life. This brings emphasis to the fact that Jesus Christ has conquered death and those who believe in Him will have everlasting life. With Jesus there is nothing to fear; even death itself. When confronted with the death of the child before His arrival Jesus responded, “The child is not dead but asleep.” He then brought the child back to life. Death is not the end but just the beginning through Jesus Christ. He told the synagogue official previously, Do not be afraid; just have faith.” This serves as a message to us all. We do not have to fear anything. We just have to have faith. When we have faith we will not be disappointed because having faith means that we have surrendered our will back to God and with that act of surrendering all of the barriers and wreckage we have built up between us and God is cleared away.

The woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years brings this lesson’s focus from death to all of our temporal sufferings which are rooted in this world. Whatever we face can be overcome when we ask God for help and adjoin Him in a loving relationship. He is our shield, our protector, and ultimate advocate. Nothing can withstand He who created all things. We learned p about the massive power faith the size of a mustard seed can have. What more things can we accomplish when that small seed, planted within our very being upon our creation, blossoms forth into a massive tree. This is what happened to the afflicted woman: broken and downtrodden she came forward as a sinner but had the faith that her spiritual and physical condition could be overcome. Unworthy to ask Jesus directly she knew by just getting close enough to Him so as to touch Him was enough for her to be healed. How much the same way we can become benefactors of a relationship with Him by just getting close to Him one inch at a time.

There is no need to worry about tomorrow. Jesus tells us that tomorrow will take care of itself:

“Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficent for a day is its own evil.”

These indeed are words to life by. If we are to keep God as the central focus of our lives and enter into relationship with Him then we have to work towards a complete reliance on Him who loves us completely. If we continue to try to be masters of our own destiny then we will never experience true joy or a life that God intended us to have. God does not want us to suffer. God does not want us to be overcome with fears and anxieties. He wants us to enter into the light of His presence and turn everything over to Him. This simple act of surrendering brings us into full communion with Him; the very place where He intended us to be in the first place. Doesn’t it make sense to do what He is asking? This is especially true because, unlike ourselves, He has our very best intentions in mind since the beginning of all things.

Sunday, June 27, 2021