Kayala: 13th Sunday: Talitha Koum

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

1. God Is Pro-Life

2. Life Is Victorious

Greeting (see second reading)

We are gathered in the name of Jesus:
he was rich but became poor for our sake
to make us rich out of his poverty.
He brought us life and healing.
May his life and grace be always with you. R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

1. God Is Pro-Life

Two great enemies in life are death and illness. Almost every one of us is scared of them. Are we convinced that God too is pro-life, that he is an enemy of death? Even the Old Testament assures us: “Death is not of God’s making.” Jesus’ resurrection is the sign that death has been overcome in its roots. It is the gate to life. In this Eucharist we express our faith that we believe in Jesus as the Lord of life.

2. Life Is Victorious

Almost everyone fears death and has a hard time to deal with it in faith. Life is a beautiful gift from God but it is brittle; sickness is a normal share of it and death comes as an inescapable reality. How can we reconcile this with faith in a God who has made us for life? We do not always see clearly, but we know at least this: since Christ rose from the dead, death has been overcome; it is not the end. We ask Jesus here in the Eucharist to touch us with his power of life.

Penitential Act

Let us now seek the Lord’s forgiveness
for the illness and death of sin
which we have brought at times on ourselves.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, when you died for us
you defeated death once and for all
by rising from the dead:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you are the giver of life:
you restored the sick to health
and raised up the dead:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you are the defender of life:
you healed those wounded by sin
and gave them back their hope and trust:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

May the Lord who overcame sin
take all our sins away
and restore us to the fullness of life.
May he lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to our God of the living
(pause)
Father of all that breathes and lives,
your Son Jesus Christ touched people
and they were healed and they lived.
Let him take us by the hand
and raise us up from sin and discouragement.
Let him touch us with his body and blood
and make us fresh and new again
to live his life and to go his way to you.
Let him touch us with the warmth of his love
that our love may revive others,
especially the poor and those who suffer.
All this we ask through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

First Reading: The God of Life Made Us Imperishably

God made us for life; it was sin that brought death into the world. But Christ will make life triumph over death.

Reading 1: WIS 1:13-15; 2:23-24

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: Ps 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.

Second Reading: Sharing and Solidarity in the Church

Local churches that are better off should help the poorer ones, just as Christ made himself poor to make us rich.

Reading 2: 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: Jesus Has the Power to Give Life

The power of resurrection is at work in Jesus: he restores the sick to fuller life, he brings the dead back to life.

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.

or

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.

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.

Intercessions

We believe in a God who created us for life. Let us trustingly bring before him all the pains and illnesses of the world and of God’s people, and let us say: