13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our readings for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

1. Wisdom 1: 13-15, 2: 23-24
2. Psalms 30: 2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13
3. 2 Corinthians 8: 7, 9,13-15
4. Mark 5: 21-43

1. Death be not proud
• Thank God for the Internet.  I found John Donne's poem Death, be not proud in a matter of minutes.  Back in the old days, well, it would have taken longer.
• My father-in-law, bless his heart, comforts himself with the sentiment that God must have needed Jean more than we did.
• At bottom, what does that sort of statement say about God?
• What does it say about us?
• Can you think of some other meaning for death?
2. Rescue station
• Do you think that God rescues us from circumstances that we've created?
• How specific are you when you pray?  Do you leave the field wide open for God to step in, or do you give him some hints as to what He needs to do?
• How much of a partner do you think God would like us to be when He intervenes?
3. Together in Mission
• What do you think our obligations are to our sister parishes?
• Do you think that those obligations should be met at the local or Diocesan level?
• How do you think that we should decide on how much to give?
4. Don't bother me, I'm doing God's work
• I love this Gospel because it makes me think of multi-tasking.
• Do you think that Jesus ever felt frustrated that He could not be in more than one place at a time?
• Do you think that He knew that it was going to end up "OK" in the end if He stopped along the way to Jairus' house?
• Have you ever missed an opportunity to do good because you were too busy doing good?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What do I blame God for?
2. Do I appreciate the things that God has rescued me from?
3. Do I look for opportunities to be generous, or do I look for ways to give "just enough".
4. Am I willing to have God break into my service to God?

The Impertinence of it All

I could hardly believe our good fortune,
A noted synagogue official approaching the Master, asking for a healing.
Surely, if Jesus is able to help this man, Jesus' notoriety will soar,
Everyone will see how wonderful He and His ministry are.

Time was of the essence.
Her life hung in the balance.
We needed to show that we cared.
And above all, get to her in time.

The crowds were like dense herds of sheep.
Milling around without apparent purpose.
Having no effect but to slow the Master's progress,
Not to mention kicking up a good deal of dust.

We finally seemed to be making some progress,
And all of a sudden Jesus stopped dead in His tracks.
It almost seemed as though the press of bodies became even tighter
When the last of our forward momentum died.

I had hoped to get him moving again,
By appealing to reason.  But no.
He had to encounter whoever it was that had touched Him.
This had "long afternoon" written all over it.

Then I saw who it was, heard the whispers.
This woman had a flow of blood, she was unfit to enter the Temple.
And now she had made Jesus unfit as well by touching Him,
Just before He is to attend a synagogue official.

And then, I saw the mercy in His eyes,
And saw her, not as an obstruction, but a door
Letting me out of my self absorption
Into wider spaces of self-donation.

Soon enough, we picked where we left off.
But the journey had been transustantiated
And the distinction between what we did in service to others,
And what we did to make that service possible, melted away.

Shalom!