Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Barbara Barry, SNDdeN
June 20, 2021
Mark 4: 35-41
How many of us have come to the end of a long day and said “I am so tired tonight I could sleep through anything!” Today’s gospel is the end of the fourth chapter of Mark and comes after a long day of Jesus talking to crowds by the lakeside and explaining parables to the disciples. In the evening Jesus gets in to the boat with the Twelve and before long he is asleep. The wind kicks up, as often happens on lakes, and the Twelve, who are probably feeling very responsible for the group’s safety, begin to panic. Now, this may seem odd to us because some of them were fishermen and so they would be used to storms coming up unexpectedly. Rather than trusting their own experience and making a decision about what to do they wake Jesus up and accuse him of not caring. And perhaps Jesus is now thinking, after all you heard me say today how could you question my caring for you? And so, maybe with a sigh, he calms the waters and the Twelve are “filled with awe and wonder who this can be.”
We, too, have some knowledge of God’s Word. We listen to the stories, read the gospels, reflect on life’s events and yet we sometimes panic in the midst of the storms. We sometimes ask God, “Do you care?” Can we trust our own experience of God and rely on grace to be with us in the storms? It is not always easy. It means being faithful to being in the boat with Jesus. Even when it seems that Jesus is asleep can we believe that Jesus does not leave us adrift on the waters all alone? And yes, like the Twelve, we can be filled with awe.
Mark 4: 35-41
On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
Meet Sister Barbara Barry, SNDdeN
