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Homily for the twelfth
Sunday in the Year - Year B - Mk. 4:35-41
by
Canon Dr. Daniel Meynen
" After have spoken in
parables to his disciples, Jesus said to them, «Let us go across
to the other side.» And leaving the crowd, they took him with
them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.
" And a great storm of wind
arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already
filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke
him and said to him, «Teacher, do you not care if we
perish?» And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
«Peace! Be still!» And the wind ceased, and there was a
great calm. He said to them, «Why are you afraid? Have you no
faith?» And they were filled with awe, and said to one another,
«Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?» "
Homily:
" After having spoken in
parables to his disciples, Jesus said to them, «Let us go across
to the other side.» "
We are on the bank of the
lake of Tiberiade, in Galilee. Jesus has just spoken to the crowd and
to his disciples, teaching them in parables how to know the Kingdom of
God. He is going to cross the lake with his disciples in order to bring
the good news of the Kingdom to the people who live on the East of the
great lake.
" Leaving the crowd, they
took him with them in the boat. "
The disciples of the Lord
took him with them in the boat in order to cross the lake of Tiberiade.
This very simple action of the disciples is a beautiful example to
follow. It invites us to take Jesus with us, to closely unite us with
him in order to cross with him all our trials and all our joys. For it
is necessary to speak about trial, here. The disciples are going to be
confronted with a terrifying event, that of a dangerous storm on the
lake. Let us love to keep the Lord close to us and with us, let us love
to stay in his very loving and benevolent presence. Let us imitate this
example of the disciples on the lake of Tiberiade, or even that of the
disciples who accompanied risen Jesus until Emmaüs on Easter's
evening, saying with them to the Lord: "Stay with us!" (Lk. 24, 29)
" A great storm of wind
arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already
filling. "
This agitation of the sea
which threatened the disciples' boat with great danger was commented
upon frequently by the Church's Fathers. They saw in it an image of the
Church, represented by the boat, rolling around and agitated by all
manner during her long pilgrimage on the earth, moving toward the
facing bank which represents the celestial homeland. Indeed, the water
is a frequently used image in the Bible, more so in the Old than in the
New Testament. It could have several significances according to the
context. Here, the water especially represents the deluge which covered
the earth during the time of Noah, and the boat symbolizes this ark of
salvation about which Saint Peter speaks in his first letter (cf. 1 P.
3:20). Like the disciples in the boat, the followers of Christ are
sometimes tormented and agitated in different ways: trials,
difficulties, sadness, anguishes, and other torments of soul and body.
But if they took with them the Lord Jesus, if they are united to Christ
in their heart, what can happen?
" But he was in the stern,
asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him,
«Teacher, do you not care if we perish?» "
Those who have read and
reread "The Story of a Soul", by Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus (St.
Theresa of Lisieux), will probably remember these words of the Saint
when she alluded to the gospel of today. In the first lines of her
chapter eight, she says, "I should have spoken to you about the retreat
preceding my Profession... It was far from bringing me any consolations
since the most absolute aridity and almost total abandonment were my
lot. Jesus was sleeping as usual in my little boat." When we experience
some difficulties, some trials, some torments, our first reaction is to
think that Jesus sleeps and that he doesn't do anything to alleviate
our embarrassment. We look at the events of the world and we ask
ourselves, sometimes with indignation, why doesn't God do anything in
order to prevent such a drama or catastrophe? We shout then toward the
Lord, as though to wake him up and to ask him to act, as though he
wasn't always attentive to our needs in his eternal Providence. We wake
Jesus up, just as the apostles woke Him.
" He awoke and rebuked the
wind, and said to the sea, «Peace! Be still!» And the wind
ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, «Why are you
afraid? Have you no faith?» "
Little Theresa continued
her narration, saying, "Ah! I see very well how rarely souls allow Him
to sleep peacefully within them." It is indeed our common attitude. We
wake Jesus up, instead of allowing him to sleep in us. We are afraid of
what could happen to us when danger threatens us, instead of being
confident that the Lord is with us and resting in our hearts. Maybe we
took the Lord with us, but our minds, our souls, are elsewhere. Jesus
is inside us, yet, we search for him where we could not find him! Then,
could it not happen that we, too, might hear the Lord's reproach, "Have
you no faith?"
Let us believe in God who
is almighty and who can do all things to save us! Jesus showed his
omnipotence in many ways. Today, he asks us to believe that he could
pacify the sea and calm the storm. Let us ask the Most Holy Virgin
Mary, who believed in all the words which were said her by the Lord
(cf. Lk. 1:45), to help us by her intercession. May this be the fruit
of our communion of today.
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