A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

Jesus told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him.

In his earthly ministry, Jesus came to serve and heal all who came to him from among many regions. In heaven, Jesus serves as high priest, as Paul says in the first reading, “holy innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens.” Just as the crowds pressed upon Jesus from all sides to touch him, so he intercedes for countless more souls in heaven. Paul goes on to say in the first reading: “Now he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.”

God, help me understand that you came to do the will of your Father and that you still do that at his right hand in heaven. Help me by your example also pray that I know the will of the Father and accomplish it. With today’s Responsorial Psalm, we pray: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. “In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, ‘To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!’” Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will. The unclean spirits who saw you knew who you were—the Son of God. Give me the grace of confidence, Lord, in approaching your Son to receive his mercy.

Lord, you are the source of all healing. Just as those who had diseases pressed upon you to touch you, I also seek to be healed through your intercession and through the beauty and goodness of the sacraments of the Church. Be with me today and look after me as intercessor to the Father. “Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through him,” Saint Paul says, “since he lives forever to make intercession for them.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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"Image from page 223 of "Hurlbut's Life of Christ for young and old" (1915)" flickr photo by Internet Archive Book Images https://flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14586368929 shared into the public domain using (CC0)

Phillip Medhurst, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Crowds gather as Christ heals the sick. Engraving by T. Phil, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons