SERMON/HOMILY FOR 12TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

SERMON/HOMILY FOR 12TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B

HOMILY THEME: EVEN WHEN THE STORM RAGES ON, THE MASTER CARES

BY: Fr Stephen ‘Dayo Osinkoya

Job 38: 1 -11, 2 Cor 5: 14 -17, Mark 4: 35–41

Circumstances often expose the low level of our faith and trust in God. That was why we begin Mass today by asking His forgiveness for the times when we’ve not trusted deeply enough in him. Like many of us, Job, overwhelmed by his own suffering, unable to bear the mockery of his own wife and friends, seems to have doubts about the presence of God in his life. And part of the answer of God to Job was what we heard in the first reading of today (Job 38:8-11).

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In the Psalm today, people like in our time too have constructed ships that can sail and conquer the ocean, and even though the sailors were in awe of a God who could create such wonders of the sea, they still felt that their shipbuilding was a great achievement, just like many of our own scientific and technological achievements. Then, though, when the heavy storms came, they realized that they were still dependent on God, and were not afraid to cry out to God for help. And God heard their pleas and calmed the storm and hushed the waves.

In our time too, with scientific and technological breakthroughs, men and women and children alike all feel like little gods, capable of proffering answers and solutions to the questions and problems of life, and this has brought with it some feeling of self-sufficiency. Yet when the storm rises and our ship of self-sufficiency is tossed about in the high wave of life troubled sea, we could not but remember that we are but mere human. So, as long we as we are not proud, thinking that we are little gods, we can ask God and God will listen to us, and help us. But just as in Job’s case in the first reading, we need, however, to know our place.

In this Sunday’s gospel Christ reproaches the disciples for their lack of faith and their fear in the middle of a sea-storm. He expected them to know that they would be quite safe as long as they depended on him. A storm breaks out. Jesus is there – but asleep. The apostles panic. But God is there – he is hidden. It seems that things have gone out of control. But God is there – and He is in control. The reaction of the apostles surprises Jesus, because they are overcome by fear. Fear is the absence of faith. They have not yet understood the secret of the kingdom. The secret of the kingdom is there in the person of Jesus … but HE might lie hidden! Just as he is present in the Eucharist, yet hidden under the appearance of bread and wine.

Beloved in Christ, the lesson for us today is that turbulence in our life is not always, and not necessarily, a bad thing, and that it can, as we have in today’s gospel, be an occasion for grace. Let us imagine our life as a sea-crossing. We are in a boat. We have a fair idea of our destination. At least we know that we have to ‘cross to the other side’. We might even think that if we row steadily enough we will make it. We are with those we trust, and Jesus is in the boat with us, so we believe everything should go fine. For a while it does. But then we hit a storm, trouble comes.

Such trouble might be a physical accident. It might be an emotional collapse. It might be when someone we love tells us that he or she doesn’t love us any more –a break in relationship. It might be a loss -business, physical or emotional, or even the loss of a beloved. Whatever it is, it is usually terrible. Our whole world is collapsing and we are certain that we are going down and sinking into depression under the raging wave of grieve and sadness. Our first temptation, perhaps, is to want to turn back, if we can, or even give up if we feel so overwhelmed. We wonder whether the destination is real or even worth the struggle.

Our faith tells us to hold on. St. Paul assures us that ‘The love of God urges us on…’ (2 Cor. 5:14) ‘What God has prepared for those who love him’ is something that far exceeds anything that ‘eye has seen, or ear heard, or heart imagined’ (1Corinthians 2:9). We are not to lose heart when faced with trials. Saint Augustine writes: ‘Our pilgrim life here on earth cannot be without trial and temptation, for it is through trials that we make progress, and it is only by being tested that we come to know ourselves’ (Augustine, On Psalm 60, 2-3).

Before the trial hit us we were pretty self-confident and self-reliant. We knew that Jesus was with us, but we didn’t recognise our real need for his help. We were so occupied with what we were doing that we forgot that we could not reach the destination on our own, and we forgot the danger we were in. We were too busy to pray, too busy to seek spiritual help. We had lost touch with our heart and with the heart of God.

Beloved, we cannot make it on our own, but we are not on our own. God is with us in the boat, even though it may appear that he is asleep and not listening to us. Our world may appear to be collapsing, but Jesus is really present to us, in the very centre of our hearts, as we journey on. When things are too much for us, let us cry out to him in our distress. He will certainly hear us. So we hear Jesus commanding the storm: “Quiet now! Be calm!” (Mk 4:39b). This command is not just to the storm – but to the apostles and by extension, to us, today’s Christians: Let nothing perturb you. Why are you so frightened? Have you still no faith? If I am asleep, does it mean that I am not powerful? If my Father seems hidden, does it mean that he is not there? If life seems difficult, does it mean that I have abandoned you? Be calm! Everything is under control.

In moments of most difficult situations in our life let us find consolation in the words of St. Paul ‘No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it’ (1 Corinthians 10:13). It may be that we just have to endure this difficult moment to the end. Like Jesus we may have to endure the crucifixion. The storm may continue to rage about us. Let us cry out to him in our distress, and let us trust that, moment by moment, we will receive the grace to remain faithful to love. We can be sure to experience an inner peace that only God offers, with the assurance that if we die with him, we will rise with him to eternal glory.

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