Little lamb, arise. Homily for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.

In today’s gospel Mark places one story inside another in what is sometimes called a Markan sandwich. The flavour of the outer story adds zest to the inner one; the taste of the inner one is meant in turn to permeate the outer one. The outer story is about Jairus, one of the local synagogue presidents, and particularly his 12-year-old daughter; the inner story is about a much older woman, who for the same twelve years has suffered severe internal bleeding.