13th
Sunday in Ordinary time
year B
Los Angeles, June 30th
–
July 1st, 2012
1st
Reading: from
the Book of Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
Psalm : 30,2,4,5-6,11,12,13
2º Reading:2nd
letter from St Paul to the Corinthians 8:7.9.13-15
Gospel: Saint Mark 5:21-43
The Book of Wisdom and the Gospel tell us that God loves life and Paul
invites us to live in solidarity.
God loves life:
“God did not make death, nor does
he rejoice in the destruction of the living”. This statement of the Book of
Wisdom is confirmed by the Gospel. Jesus heals a woman who had suffered
bleeding for twelve years and, later on, wakes up a 12-year-old girl who was
believed dead.
It’s true that we all must die. It’s our human condition. But we cannot
say that God sends death or wants anyone to die. We must fight death and,
nowadays, medicine gives us many ways to overcome diseases that a few years ago
were considered fatal. Furthermore, we have the sacrament of the sick which is
a blessing that the Church offers to help us confront illness with strength and
confidence.
Faced with the illness of his daughter, the head of the synagogue begged
Jesus to lay hands on her. Later on, Jesus realized that power had gone out
from him when the bleeding woman was healed.
Similarly, When the Church lays on hands to celebrate a sacrament
(Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination and
Anointing of the Sick) the strength of the Holy Spirit is poured upon us and
life is given to us.
Today we need to understand that God loves life and that the mission of
the Church is to help us fight against evil, against sin, against everything
that leads to death so we can fully live our time on earth.
The Word of God and the sacraments proposed by the Church are the means
that God makes available to us, to enlighten us, to guide us and to give us the
strength to fight death.
Let’s open our hearts so that whenever the Church lays hands on us, we
may welcome the power of the Holy Spirit who comes to provide us with abundant
life.
Let’s not live in resignation or in ignorance of evil. God wants us to
stand up to fight and overcome evil, sin, and all that leads to death.
Living in Solidarity:
Paul reminds us that God has given us a lot and that we need to share it
with our brothers and sisters.
We often forget that health, intelligence, strength and all the
capabilities we have are gifts from God and that, around us, many of our
brothers and sisters have not received as much as we have.
Let’s listen to the words of Paul and let’s learn to share as a way to
thank God for all that he has given to us.
Amen.
Fr.
Germán