TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
20 JUNE 2021
The
Book of Job is an extended parable that addresses the mystery of human
suffering. At the beginning of the Book,
God brags to Satan about Job’s faithfulness.
Satan responds, “Of course he is a faithful servant. He has everything – good health, a large
family, and great wealth. Take those
away, and let’s see how faithful he is.”
God allows Satan to take away everything. Job loses his family, his wealth, and his
health. His wife leaves him, advising
him to curse God and die. Then his three
friends arrive to “comfort” him.
Convinced that human suffering is a punishment for sin, they urge him to
admit his sinfulness and accept this punishment. Even though Job is a sinner, he senses that
this solution is too simple. Job is
hardly patient and complains bitterly throughout the entire book. But he never abandons his faith in God. Finally, God addresses him and asks a series
of rhetorical questions. Our first
reading gives one of those questions.
God asks Job if he understands the mystery of creation. Like a loving parent, God delivers creation
from the womb and wraps the created world in swaddling bands as a gift.
The Book of
Job does not give a definitive answer to the mystery of human suffering. But just as Job does not understand why God
allows people to suffer, neither can he understand God’s creative and beautiful
love. God addresses Job out of the
storm. God dwells in the whirlwinds and
tempests of life. God had been present
to Job in the midst of his terrible storm.
In today’s
Gospel, Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat. Violent squalls happen on the Sea of Galilee,
as strong winds from the Golan Heights cause dangerous waves. Jesus remains asleep in the midst of this
storm. The disciples wake him and ask,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” When he awakens, he rebukes the wind just as
he has been rebuking demons. He demands
that the sea be quiet and still, as he has demanded the demons to be quiet. At his command, the wind ceases, and there is
a great calm. He reveals himself as the
Son of God.
Jesus is
present to his disciples in the midst of their dangerous storm, as God has been
present to Job in his storms. He remains
peaceful and assured in the face of terror, death, and destruction. He will maintain that same attitude when he
is betrayed and crucified as a common criminal.
He will trust in his Father’s power to raise him from the dead. He is warning his disciples that they too
will be tossed about in the boat that will become the Church. They will need to be steadfast in their
faith. They will need to trust him in
all times and circumstances.
As his
disciples today, we are crossing the sea of life in the “Barque of Peter,” as
the Church is sometimes called. This
Barque has been threatened by storms for centuries. We are just emerging from two of those storms
– the clergy sexual abuse scandal and the pandemic. As individuals, each of us crosses our own bodies
of water as we transition from one situation in life to another. We who are fathers can speak of the
transitions we have made to let go of our own needs to be more attentive to the
needs of those who depend on us. We also
know the violent storms that have threatened us in these transitions. Today’s Gospel answers the question of
whether the Lord is present in those difficult times. The answer is “yes.”
Saint Paul
assures the Corinthians that he can face violent opposition because the love of
Christ impels him. That same love of
Christ impels us, holds us together, helps us to hold fast to our faith in the
most violent of times, and allows us to press forward. Saint Teresa of Avila expresses her trust
that the Lord is present in the midst of the many storms in her life in the
sixteenth century. She replaces
turbulence and unknowing with stillness.
“Let nothing disturb you. Let
nothing upset you. Everything
changes. God alone is unchanging. With patience all things are possible. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone is enough.”
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