Christ With Us!

Sunday, June 23, 2024

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jb 38:1,8-11; 2 Cor 5:14-17; Mk 4: 35-41

The twelfth Sunday invites us to derive consolation from God’s presence in our lives. 

The three readings help us realize that discerning God’s purposes is much better than seeking answers that will satisfy our intellectual curiosity. 

The first reading from Job helps us understand that the greatest consolation we may ever have is God’s presence in our lives. The first reading comes in response to Job’s complaints against God’s treatment of him. Worse still, Job’s attitude challenges God to give an account not only for his sufferings but also for the injustice he seems to find in every corner of creation. In essence, out of his ignorance, Job is challenging the wisdom and planning on the part of God, when the Wisdom Tradition attributes the wisdom in creation to the blueprint of God. The reason behind Job’s attitude is the misfortune that has befallen him. Suffering from self-pity and doubt, Job counts himself among the last and wonders if God ever listens to him. It is against this backdrop that we should read God’s response. God answers Job’s challenge from a whirlwind, which is a theophanic sign in the Bible. These rhetorical questions are designed to fully disclose Job’s inadequate understanding of the mysteries and purposes of God. What Job desired was an intellectual solution to his misfortunes. However, God helps him understand that He has never abandoned Job and still cares for him. 

In the second reading, while Paul underlines Christ’s sacrificial love as offering the motivation for his mission, he invites us to understand the Divine Plan behind the supreme sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Since Christ’s death and resurrection have changed everything, we have become a new creation without any trace of the old. Hence, Paul argues that the cross is not a scandal. Nor is it the foolishness of God. Rather, in what seemed to be foolishness – God’s Messiah suffering a humiliating death – God was at work to reconcile the world to himself and to make all things new. Thus, Paul helps us understand how wrong human judgement can be. As such, when the human mind questions the scandal of the cross, Paul questions the scandal of human judgment. Paul cautions us that, in our ignorance, we should not make faulty judgements about the redemptive wisdom of God. 

In the Gospel, we find Jesus calming the great storm. Themselves being fishermen, if the disciples are terrified of the storm, we can understand the seriousness of the situation. Hence, there is no way of undermining the fear of the disciples. However, what they forget is the goodness and power of the Lord, who is with them. The same Lord has healed lepers, driven out demons, and offered cures to many with various diseases (Mark 1). Though the disciples had witnessed all these, they did not have faith in Jesus, and be rest assured that he would save them from the storm too. In their fear of perishing, they forget that the Lord who can save them is with them, present in ‘the same boat.’ Jesus is more disturbed by their lack of faith than by the storm. This is also the passage where the disciples witness both the humanity and divinity of Jesus at the same time. They witness the humanity of Jesus in the person who is tired and asleep and his divinity in calming the storm. The Gospel invites us to perceive the truth that there is nothing more consoling than God’s presence in our lives. When God is with us, even a great storm is turned into a great calm. 

This Sunday invites us to reflect on three specific themes. 

Need for Discernment: There is an unbridgeable gap between divine and human knowledge. Oftentimes, in our ignorance and frailty, we overlook the wisdom of God. Overpowered by our troubles and worries, we forget the goodness of God too. The readings of the day help us understand our limitations in comprehension and judgement. Like Mother Mary, the ability to discern must be an integral part of our Christian lives. 

Relationship of Trust: Christian faith is a relationship of trust, which is more important than answers to the questions of ‘why.’ We should overcome the temptation to satisfy our intellectual curiosity and trust in God’s loving care and providence. The readings of the day inspire us to hold the hands of God in profound trust and faith. 

God with Us: In Christian life, all that is important is if God is with us or if we are with God. Our ‘human point of view’ is often imprecise and faulty. Rather, our deeper need is to have God in our lives. That God has not abandoned us is a great Christian realization. Only the heart that perceives the truth that God has not abandoned us in the past will trust in God’s continuing care and providence for the future. 

God’s presence in our lives is the solution we are looking for.

If God is with us, who or what can be against us? (Rom 8:31).

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar