Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Our God Of The Living
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. The prophet Hosea is the prophet of the tender, gratuitous love of God, who continues to love his people even when they are unfaithful, because he is God, not like people (Hos 11, 9). Hosea can describe this love well, for he had experienced it in his own life when his wife deserted him. He went to take her back and went on a new honeymoon with her. This is the kind of love God has for us.
Gospel. God has made us for life. In Jesus, he shows us that he wants us to be healed, that is, wholly and fully alive and raised from the dead, for by his resurrection, Jesus defeats death in its roots. In this eucharist, we ask Jesus to raise us up, from the death of sin and ultimately from physical death.
Opening Prayer
God of all that breathes and lives,
your Son Jesus 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.
First Reading
So I am going to allure her, lead her once more into the desert, where I can speak to her tenderly.
Then I will restore her vineyards and turn the Valley of Achor into a door of hope. There, she will answer me, as she did in her youth, just like when she came out of Egypt.
On that day, the Lord says,you will call me my husband,and never again: my Baal.
You will be my spouse forever,betrothed in justice and integrity;we will be united in love and tenderness.
I will espouse you in faithfulness;you will come to know the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (8a) The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendour of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds
and declare your greatness.
They publish the fame of your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your justice.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
A Woman Healed and a Child Raised to Life
While Jesus was speaking to them, a synagogue official approached him, bowed before him, and said:
“My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hands on her, and she will live.”
Jesus stood up and followed him with his disciples.
Then a woman who had been suffering from severe bleeding for twelve years came up from behind and touched the edge of his cloak;
for she thought:
“If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
Jesus turned, saw her, and said:
“Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.”
From that moment, the woman was healed.
When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the excited crowd, he said:
“Go away! The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping!”
And they laughed at him.
But once the crowd had been gone out, Jesus went in, took the girl by the hand, and she stood up.
The news of this spread across the entire area.
Prayers of the Faithful
– That the Church may continue with compassion Jesus’ healing ministry, that the sick may be comforted, the downtrodden set free, and the poor and the weak protected, we pray:
– That doctors and nurses and all who care for the sick and the handicapped may have a great respect for life and be inspired in their task by the love of Christ, we pray:
– That the faith and the hope of the sick and the dying may be firmly anchored in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life; that with him they may accept their pains with patience and when the time comes also accept death as the gateway to full life, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
This is your dwelling place
to which you have invited us.
We offer you here all our love and trust
through him who had placed himself
into your hands
and kept trusting in you even in death,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
our life and death are in your hands.
We are certain of you
because we know your love is irrevocable
and you have given us your Son in this eucharist.
May we learn from you and him
to be present to one another
and to be reliable messengers to each other
of your care and your gratuitous love.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
God wants us to live to the full. That is why he lets his Son, Jesus Christ, heal and strengthen us with the food and drink of everlasting life. May Almighty God bless and keep you: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Mt 9:18-26
The impossible is possible with faith
Today's Gospel story shows Jesus healing two women. Before Jesus' healing power, their very different stories cross paths. The first was the death of a young woman at the prime of her life. The other woman was marginalised for being impure because of an incurable haemorrhage. The only thing they have in common is the need to be rescued by someone with the power to save their lives.
In the case of the young woman, it was her father who took the bold gesture to approach Jesus and ask for Jesus' intervention. But the older woman took it upon herself to "steal" a miracle from Jesus, violating something very sacred for the Jews. It was sacrilege to touch even the edges of the robe while the person was impure because of the flow of blood.
The story of these two women can be our own story. It is Jesus who allows himself to be reached by both of them. He does not exclude them nor make it difficult for them. There are no questions he asks about them. There is no price or condition attached to his immediate intervention. He does not look at the person's appearance or social or religious class. People's pain moves him, and he reacts to sickness and death.
He does not look for recognition for the signs he performs. He does not claim to say, "I am the one who heals you or brings you back to life." He only pronounces the phrase "your faith has saved you" and takes the dead girl by the hand. He highlights the value of that faith capable of the impossible.
Jesus comes into contact with those excluded from society, the lepers, and the abandoned. We keep a prudent distance from situations and people that might affect our lives. There is no better way to share our life than to reach out to those in need, whether it is with a smile, a word, a hug, or words of encouragement.
We should not let inhibition, indifference, or disinterest keep us from connecting with reality or getting to know people. As Jesus did in this Gospel, let us give life to others. By reaching out to people in need, we will also receive life, like the sick woman, because grace is found among the poor and those in need.