Sunday between 26 June and 2 July    

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading - Lamentations 3.22-33

A reading from the book of Lamentations. New every morning are the love and the mercy of the Lord - steadfast, and unending. We can place all our hope and trust in the Lord, for our Lord is faithful. The Lord is our inheritance, and all that we need. We may have knelt, alone, in prayer, under persecution and insult, affliction and grief. But the Lord honours those who seek the Lord, and wait patiently for salvation. And we can trust that we shall know, once again, the steadfast love and mercy of the Lord. This is the word of the Lord.

Second Reading - 2 Corinthians 5.14-15,17

A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians. We declare, with confidence, that Christ died for all; so all have died. Therefore, let us live no longer for ourselves, but for Christ, who died for us - and rose again. For anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has passed away, and everything is new. This is the word of the Lord.

Gospel - Mark 5.21-43

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark. Jesus was once again teaching by the lake-side, and a great crowd had gathered around him. One of the leaders of the synagogue came to Jesus, and fell at his feet, begging him, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made well, and live.’ So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed them, pressing in on them.

In the crowd, there was a woman who had been suffering with bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered much, under many doctors, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his cloak, convinced that by this alone, she would be made well. Immediately, her bleeding stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Aware that power had gone out from him, Jesus turned around in the crowd, and said, ‘Who touched me?’ His disciples said that with the crowd pressing in all around him, it made no sense to ask who had touched him. But Jesus kept looking around. The woman, knowing that she had been healed, knelt before Jesus, trembling, and told him all that had happened to her. Jesus said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’ While Jesus was still speaking, some people arrived from the leader’s house, to tell the leader that his daughter was dead, and that he should trouble the teacher no further. But overhearing this, Jesus said, ‘Do not be afraid; only believe.’ Jesus now allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, and the brothers James and John. When they arrived at the house of the leader of the synagogue, they saw a commotion, with people weeping and wailing loudly. Jesus entered the house, and said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion, and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.’ For this they mocked him. But he sent them outside; and taking with him only the child’s father and mother, and Peter, James, and John, he went into the room where the child was lying. Then he took her by the hand, and said to her, ‘Child, get up!’ And immediately, the girl (who was twelve years old) got up, and began to walk about. Everyone was overwhelmed at what they had witnessed. But Jesus ordered them not to let anyone know what had happened. And he told them to give her something to eat. This is the Gospel of the Lord.