Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Massimo Palombella
In today’s Gospel (Mk 5:21-43) Jesus says to the little girl, the daughter of one of the synagogue leaders named Jairus, “Talità kum” (Little girl, I say to you get up).
The same words are, in a way, addressed to each one of us. Jesus invites us to get up, to rise from our inner dead, from the fears that block our lives, from the codified lies that define our existence a small horizon of apparent tranquillity, from the unresolved issues that do not allow us to forgive and force us to always live in an attitude of reaction or defence.
Jesus, as with the little girl, takes our hand, does not leave us, puts us back on our feet and raises us from our dead.
Even when we turn to Him in an ‘unusual’, almost ‘superstitious’ way like the sick woman who touches His cloak, Jesus meets us, He heals us, accepts our faith as it is, and, through our poor motivations, our weaknesses, leads us to life in abundance, gives us His peace.
The entrance antiphon, the Introit, of today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 46 (Ps 46:2-3) with the following text:
“Omnes gentes plaudite manibus.
Iubilate Deo in voce exsultationis.
Quoniam Dominus excelsus, terribils, rex magnum super omnem terram.”
(All nations, clap your hands;
shout unto God with a voice of joy.
For the Lord is high and awesome; a great king over all the earth).
The attached music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Gradual Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979. The performance is by the Choralschule der Benediktinerabtei Münsterschwarzach conducted by Godehard Joppich. The musical score can be found on the CD ‘Gregorian Chants’ published by Christophorus in 2020.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
