1st Reading: Job 38:1.8-11/Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 107:23-24.25-26.28-29.30-31 (R. 1) 2nd Reading: II Corinthians 5:14-17/ Gospel Acclamation: Jn. 12:31-32/ Gospel: Mark 4:35-41
Theme: With Christ, I’ll Smile At The Storm!
Ever since the first Father’s Day was observed in 1908, in West Virginia for the fathers who lost their lives in the mining accident in Monongah, USA, many have touted the idea of celebrating fathers worldwide. One of such persons is Sonora Smart Dodd who pushed for its celebration in 1910 in view of her own father, William Jackson Smart, a civil war veteran and a single parent who single-handedly raised all his six children. Fatherhood is a blessing and honouring our fathers and paternal bonds – whether biological or social – is a divine duty (cf. Ex. 20:12; Prov. 1: 8, 23:22, 24; Sirach 3:1-16). We pray God to bless all who have played fatherly roles in the lives of people.
Today, God, through the liturgical readings addresses a peculiar problem of the human condition, namely, the existential problems we face in life. Although our experiences differ, we are all very much aware of some of the human problems and natural disasters which happen from time to time. The dilemma of the suffering innocent and the seeming success of the wicked person continue to baffle many believers and challenge faith in God. Why do the righteous suffer? Why do the wicked progress? Again, why do we experience debilitating diseases, abject poverty, massive corruption, staggering cases of exploitation and the evil of violence and terrorism? The typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, etc. The incessant migrant catastrophes on the Mediterranean Sea capture the daily headlines with regularity. These constitute the front-page headlines and the Breaking News on many international television stations, in newspapers and magazines. In spite of these puzzles, today’s readings offer us some recipes of hope encouraging us to persevere, be steadfast and to hang in there knowing that Jesus is ever with us, and that it shall be well with us!
Faced with difficult challenges in the area of loss of children and property, as well as bodily afflictions, Job enters into a cacophony of wails of woes as many people do when in sorrow and pain. In this mood, Job asks a plethora of questions. So, in the first reading, God also answers the ‘whys’ of Job with questions. In her famous I Know My Redeemer Lives, the American Gospel Singer, Nicole Mullen, beautifully put these questions of God in song and chants: “Who taught the sun where to start in the morning? And who told the ocean, ‘you can only come this far’? And who showed the moon where the height to live in? Whose words alone can capture fallen star? (cf. Job 38:1.8-11). And then she firmly and believingly affirms: “Well, I know my Redeemer lives!”
When we observe all the things God does for us visibly and invisibly, we are left with no option than to be struck with awe and love, and to praise and adore his name. In view of this, the Psalmist encourages us: “O give thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his mercy endures forever! (Ps. 107:1). We need to develop the habit of acknowledging and thanking God for his goodness every day of our lives, because, the heart that shows appreciation always receives more and more. The thankful person is always a recipient of favour, support and blessing, and does not lack friends.
We note that although Job did not see God visibly when he restored his life and property in the final analysis, in today’s Gospel, God in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ, is visibly seen demonstrating his divine power over the elements in nature. Jesus simply rebuked the windstorm that struck the boat with which he and the disciples were travelling. Like Job, the disciples, in the heat of the near-shipwreck experience ask: “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” (Mk. 4:38). Jesus simply gets up and rebukes the wind and commands the sea: “Peace! Be still!” (Mk. 4:39). We read that immediately, the wind ceases and there is great calm; a show of the audacity of God!
God is aware of the human condition, of the existential problems, and he is always asking us: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” (Mk. 4:40). If God is in the boat of our lives, we will certainly smile at the storm. The sea billows of problems will roll, the heat wave of the sun of challenges will come. However, if we can have a deeper, intimate and personal relationship with God, calm, peace and tranquillity will return to our hearts, homes, places of work and future plans. We will be amazed at what God is able to do for us, and like the disciples, we will burst out in wonder and say: “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?” (Mk. 4:41). Again, we need to understand that for the Jews, the bastion of all evil is the sea. So, for Jesus to command the sea into obedience is a display of who has the ultimate power and authority over the universe.
If Jesus died for us all, what else would be difficult for him to do for us? So, in the second reading, St. Paul admonishes us to live in Christ, surrender to him and be confident in his ever-abiding presence even in the face of difficulties. He says: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (II Cor. 5:17). When we do so, it is no longer us who live, rather, it is Christ who lives in us (cf. Gal. 2:20). Beloved in Christ, God loves us dearly, and God is still involved in the affairs of humankind. Had it not been for him, all of us would have gone on extinction because of our sins and weakness. He is the one who forgives our sins and gives us the opportunity, the second chance, to repent and become better people. His patience is for our salvation (II Pet. 3:15). He also gives us peace in the storm of sorrow. In times of fears, doubts, uncertainties and tensions, he sends us his peace flowing like a river to calm us down. When we are anxious especially because of the unknown, about what the future holds for us, we are encouraged to place our lives in the hands of the one who knows the future. Let us pause for a while and meditate on the words of these beautiful songs below. May they touch our hearts, reinforce our hope, move us to prayer and silence, and thereby, deepen our faith and hope in God.
1.When peace like a river attended my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my God thou has taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Chorus: It is well, it is well, with my soul, with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul!
2.What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and grief to bear
What a privilege we carry
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Like the disciples in the boat who believe that Jesus can help them, and who eventually pray him to quell the storm, let us also learn to carry our burdens to Jesus in prayer. Although their faith was not strong, yet, it was enough to elicit a quick response from Jesus. So, nothing should stop us from believing in God even when all the odds are against us; even when hell breaks loose on us. With Christ in the boat of our lives, we shall smile at the storm and say ‘It is well!’ Happy Father’s Day and may God richly bless us! Remember: # With-Christ-I’ll-Smile-At-The-Storm!
By Rev. Fr. Lucas Binnah Junior, C.S.Sp.
