Walking with Jesus: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Job 38:1, 8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; Mark 4: 35-41

How strong is my faith? I would say that I feel I’m in a good place. But what happens when fear enters into my life? I probably would respond that I’m really not afraid and that it seldom arises in my life. Then I pause and think … when was the last time I was afraid? I look at the past year and remember that my brother had serious medical conditions and the surgeon said there was nothing else he could do … consider letting him die peacefully, he told me. We talked, and I talked with my niece and nephews and we agreed. It was not an easy decision. I then thought of the people close to me who died: priest friends I had frequently vacationed with, close friends from my present and past assignments. Talking with their families was difficult. It was a tense experience spending these moments with them. Fear … was present. I went from fear to struggling toward faith … faith in God and His gifts, and responding in faith and love to those who are afraid and struggling, perhaps with their faith and mine.

The point is that all people struggle with fear: We just hide it or cover it up too frequently. So often our fears are not obvious; however, they have extraordinary power over our actions and interactions with the people we love. The Christian story, from Adam and Eve through to Jesus and the Apostles to the present, is the potent back-and-forth struggle between fear and God’s loving care and embrace. This struggles goes all the way back to Genesis when Adam and Eve hid and God said, “‘Where are you?’ Adam answered, ‘I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.’” [Genesis 3:9-10] In the midst of our fear, God pulls us closer to Himself, all the time.

In the first reading we enter into the mist of Job’s sufferings. He is wondering where he stands with God: “I know God is with me … He always has been ... but I’ve experienced so many setbacks and so many losses. Maybe You don’t care for me anymore?” [Job 6:4] “It seems that You have treated me unjustly and cruelly.” [Job 30:21] How often have I experienced this in some way? It’s the “Poor Me” syndrome. Its definition is “an expression used to express self-pity. If something unfortunate (even if a thing is small or insignificant) has happened to you, you say ‘poor me.’ It is most commonly used sarcastically.” God tells Job that he is not capable of comprehending the complexity of the world and how it works, because Job had nothing to do with its creation. It was God who “… shut within doors the sea [and] set limits for it.” [Job 38:8,10] Only God is able to control the universe in all its complexity. Shouldn’t Job ... shouldn’t I ... be filled with gratitude rather than criticism? Have I … do I ... thank God for the gift of life? Have I thanked God for surrounding me with people who acknowledge belief in God and thanksgiving for His blessings?

Paul has been speaking to the Corinthians about the need for perseverance. So I must reflect on how I view life and how I view my preparation for meeting with Christ, my judge. Paul consistently tells the Corinthians that love of Christ dying on the cross for me and my love for Christ in return is the reason why I was created. I am no longer to live for myself but for God, who blessed me and gifted me so that I can love others to show my love and appreciation to God.

The gospel account is the first of four miracle stories in Mark that focus on Jesus’ divine power. Jesus and His disciples are moving out of the Galilee area into Gentile territory. A violent storm comes into view. Jesus is asleep; the disciples can’t believe His calmness while they are terrified. Jesus asserts they are petrified and have no faith. Throughout Mark’s gospel, no matter what Jesus does showing that He is the Son of God, the disciples are just not ready to admit this. Even in calming the storm they are in awe ... but faith is not present. Imagine sitting in the boat. You are drenched from the pouring rain, the boat is close to flooded. Jesus stands up and commands to the storm, “Quiet! Be still!” [Mark 4:39] Then He says to you and me, “Why are you afraid … do you not trust and have faith in Me?” The sleeping Jesus reflects through His own suffering that total chaos will never be the victor. And still they don’t get it. Mark ends: “They were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?’” [Mark 4:41]

This parable invites each of us to hope when nothing hopeful is happening. “To hope for spiritual progress when we don’t feel it … to hope for conversion in someone we love when she doesn’t see it, and … to hope that the good seeds we have sown will blossom even though we may be gone.” [Sunday Homily Helps, June 13, 2021]

So I reflect on:

• Much of our lives are lived between total fear and total faith. The possibility of drowning is ever present. I reflect on how God has saved me from the perishing waters I’ve encountered.
• I reflect on how I have experienced God taking me as I am and lifting me to something greater. Can I do this for others?
  

Sacred Space 2021 states:

“Put yourself imaginatively into the boat with the disciples. Allow yourself to experience the happy anticipation at the start of the voyage and then the terror as the gale sweeps in. Your life is in danger. You look to Jesus to save you, but He is asleep — as if He doesn’t care. Then feel the relief as He speaks with authority and calms the wind and sea. Are you embarrassed when He questions your faith? Is there anything you want to say to Him after this adventure?”