Sunday:       12 th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Date:         June 25, 2006
Year:         B
The readings: [Job 38:1-4, 8-11; 2 Cor. 5:14-17; Mk. 4:35-41]
The message:  Have you still no faith?
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  1836 words.

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"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" [Mk. 4:38] Who is man to question how the Lord chooses to manifest His infinite glory and power? "Has the potter (the Lord) no right over the clay?" [Rom 9:21] "No one says, 'Where is God my Maker..." [Job 35:10] Humans "turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? Shall the thing made say of its maker, 'He did not make me'; or the thing formed say of the one who formed it, 'He has no understanding'?" [Is. 29:15-16] "Woe to you who strive with your Maker, earthen vessels with the potter!: Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, 'What are you making'?" [Is. 45:9] "O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." [Is. 64:8]

Before calming the storm, Jesus briefly scolded His disciples for the fear and lack of trust that they expressed in Him. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" [Mk. 4:40] As the faith as Christians is frequently tested by the Lord, it is obvious from today's Gospel Reading that the faith of the disciples was also being tested as part of their discipleship and sanctification.

When Jesus calmed the storm, [Mk 4:35-41] the disciples were stunned by the miracle. Although they personally knew who Jesus was, they were quite impressed by His power of controlling the elements. This miracle revealed the humanity and the deity of the Lord Jesus. When Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat, the disciples witnessed His humanity. When Jesus spoke and the sea calmed, that was His deity.

Having previously manifested His power over diseases and demons, Jesus was now manifesting His power over nature. There is something to learn from today's Gospel Reading. It encourages us to turn to Jesus during all the storms of our lives, knowing that the boat can never sink when He is in it.

In the days of Jesus, the sea was frequently perceived as the dwelling place of the forces of evil. Manifesting control over the sea was a sign of Divine power. This truth is learned from the Book of Psalms where we read, "O Lord God of hosts, who is as mighty as you, O Lord? Your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them." [Ps. 89:8-9] Regarding the exodus from Egypt, it states, "Yet he saved them for his name's sake, so that he might make known his mighty power. He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry; he led them through the deep as through a desert." [Ps. 106:8-9; Is. 51:9-10] Therefore, the disciples associated the actions of the Lord Jesus as a power that only belonged to God. Who else can or has ever controlled the sea? No one!

The calming of the sea was the fulfillment of prophecies that are found in the Old Testament. Once more from the Book of Psalms, we read, ""Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not cast us off forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?" [Ps. 44:23-24] As the Lord of the Old Testament had to be awakened in times of need, the Lord of the New Testament also had to be awakened in a time of need.

We all experience moments in life when we are wondering if the Lord Jesus is sleeping, if He hears are prayers, if He actually cares about our welfare. Why? Because we are weak in the flesh. we easily weakened and cry that the Lord is not paying attention to our prayers, our pleas, our cries. I would like to share with you a poem called, "Twinkling Faith."

Lord Jesus, through Your infinite wisdom,
You permit trials to cross my path.
Suddenly my faith twinkles in despair,
Casting doubts upon my delicate soul.
I then boldly dispute Your infinite love,
Overlooking past blessings received.
Please disregard such oblivious acts,
They being reactions of a corporeal nature;
Not truly a reflection of my loyal soul
And its immense longing for Your Presence.
Let not evil forces weaken my faith,
Especially when I need You the most.
Hasten Your Holy Spirit to my assistance,
To booster my faith into a flare.
I trust You will attend to my daily needs,
And keep me as Your child forever.
Praise be Your infinite goodness:
You truly are the Comforter of mankind.

Today's First Reading was from the Book of Job that is found in the Old Testament. This holy book raises more questions that it finally answers concerning the problem of evil in the world. The innocent afflicted man, although accused of guilt by his "friends," must remain content with unseeing trust in God. In chapter 38, God is depicted as affirming His superiority over the seas that symbolizes evil. God implies that the final victory is His, therefore, Job has no reason whatsoever to experience doubts.

During the Reading [Job 38:1, 8-11], God indicated to Job that He was in full control of creation. In Chapters 38 to 42, God gloriously reveals Himself by asking a series of 60 questions related to the origins of the earth, the sea and the light. In reference to nature, God asks if Job knew the history, how it all started? Was he present at creation? Does he now know 'where to find everything', all the distant corners of the universe and what they contain? Does he know the procedure? Could he, from now on, run things, give the necessary orders? God asks,"Who can do all those things but Himself?" Consequently, God reveals Himself to Job, and Job to himself."

How easy it is to make false assumptions. How easy it is to judge God as we frequently tend to judge others without knowing all the particulars of a situation. Man's wisdom is equal to God's foolishness. Man's faith should be in God, the Divine Providence that never fails.

During today Second Reading from the Second Letter to the Corinthians [2 Cor 5:14-15], we were called to live for Christ who died for us.

There is no greater love than the love of one who dies for someone else. The love of Christ was shown above all in that He died for us. Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, giving His precious life for each and everyone of us so that we may live. Paul was deeply moved by this love of Christ. This special love kept Paul from living for himself. It led him to do great things for Christ and His people.

What is "the love of Christ?" Is it the love Christ has for us or the love that we have for Him? That answer is found in the actions of Saint Paul. The love that Jesus had for Paul is what made the apostle serve so tireless and unselfishly. The only reason that we love Jesus is that He first loved us. It is the love of Christ that moves us to keep going in the service of God.

Christ does not love us just for the sake of loving us. There is a reason why He came down to earth, why He suffered, why He bled and why He died. He did so for all of us because we needed a Saviour. And the very fact that Christ died is proof that all were dead in trespasses and in sins prior to His coming.

The point that St. Paul argued is that it is totally reasonable to say that we should not live for ourselves, but for Him who died for us. He died for us. We live for Him.

It is possible for a Christian to live for himself. It is possible for him to think, to talk, and to work only for his own pleasure and future in this world. But such a motive is quite wrong. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we were admitted into the Body of Christ. As children of God, we became slaves of Christ. Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, we were sent forth to preach and defend our Catholic faith. The Holy Spirit whispers in our hearts that we were as good as dead. The reason that we are alive, it is because we entirely belong to Christ. Not 5%, not 25%, not 75%, not even 99%; we entirely belong to Christ.

When Paul lived for himself, he thought of others as neighbours, friends, relatives, officials, etc... Now that he was dead in Christ, he viewed others as eternal souls, members of the same Body, who needed to be fed with the Good Word. In other words, he looked on all persons from a spiritual point of view. Every person that he came across either needed to be converted to Christ or needed to be strengthened as a Christian.

When we come to Christ, there is a new creation. From that moment on, we do not judge men in a carnal, earthly way, according to appearances or to human credentials. We see them as precious souls for whom Christ died.

Paul indicates that if he had known Christ in the flesh, that would have changed. In other words, it is one thing to know the Lord Jesus as a neighbour and quite another thing to know the glorified Christ who is at the right hand of God at this present time. Each day, our knowledge of the Lord Jesus becomes more intimate and alive as He is revealed to us through the Holy Spirit by the grace of God. Paul did not know Christ according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

In the beginning, God created all things. Now, He has created us in righteousness that we should walk in good works. [Ephes. 2:10, 3:9, 4:24] Our old attitudes have passed away, our whole new way of thinking has become new. We have an entire new nature, God's nature. [2 Peter 1:4] We have a new covenant [Hebrews 8:8], a new command [Jn. 13:34], a new life [Rom. 6:4], a new name [Rev. 2;17], and a new song [Rev. 5:9; 14:3]. If a person is in Christ, that person is saved and there is a new creation.

When a person is saved, having become a new creation, that does not mean that old habits, evil thoughts, and lustful looks are forever done away with and everything literally becomes new in the person's life. We know that this is not true. Today's reading does not echo the person's practice but rather his position.

Let us all go forward this week and walk in the new life and new creations so the glory of God may be manifested through us.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 'Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.

Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? when I made the clouds its garment, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped.'?'" [Job 38:1-4, 8-11]

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Second Reading...

"The love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view. Even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" [2 Cor. 5:14-17]

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Gospel Reading...

"When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let us go across to the other side.' And leaving the crowd behind, they took Jesus with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.

A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, 'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?' He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead clam.

Jesus said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?' And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'"[Mk. 4:35-41]

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