SATURDAY 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME GOSPEL, COMMENTARY AND READING. THE CALMING OF THE STORM (Mk 4:35–41).
GOSPEL OF SATURDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Mk 4:35–41
THE CALMING OF THE STORM
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?”
GOSPEL COMMENTARY
- “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”
- Faith is man’s response manifested in his assent to God’s Revelation, Love, Omnipotence and Goodness, at all times, but most especially when he finds himself in midst of a storm.
- It is a response which is translated into prayer of petition and of abandonment to God’s will.
- It is a response demonstrated in always considering God’s plans behind the disastrous situations, convinced that He knows and wants what is best for us. “If you live in the presence of God, high above the deafening storm, the sun will always be shining on you; and deep below the roaring and destructive waves, peace and calm will reign in your soul (St. Josemaria, “Forge”, n. 334.”
- St. Augustine compares our life to that of a ship:
- “As a vessel on the sea be exposed to a thousand dangers — to pirates, to quicksands, to hidden rocks, and to tempests — so man in this life is encompassed with perils, arising from the temptations of hell — from the occasions of sin, from the scandals or bad counsels of men, from human respect, and above all from the passions of corrupt nature. . .. This should not cause him to lose confidence. Rather… when you find yourself assaulted by a violent passion take whatever you can to avoid the occasions [of sin] and place your reliance on God…: when the tempest is violent, the pilot never takes his eyes from the light which guides him to port. In like manner, we should keep our eyes always turned to God, who alone can deliver us, from the many dangers to which we are exposed” (St Augustine, Sermon 51; from the fourth Sunday after Epiphany).
- Who then is thiseven wind and sea obey him!
- In this miracle, the Fathers have always seen the protection of Christ over His Church. The waves of persecution seem to sink it, but Christ is with her and will never allow it.
- It is clear, then, that the reason for the indestructibility of the Church is her intimate union with and constant presence of her founder aand primary foundation, Our Lord Jesus Christ such that the gates of hell would not prevail against her (Mt 16:18).
- Faith attests to us that this firmness in the constitution of the Church and in the veracity of its doctrine will always last. Saint Leo the Great says:
- “On this firm rock I will build an eternal temple and the tall conglomeration of my Church, called to penetrate heaven, relies on the steadfastness of this faith. The powers of hell cannot impede this profession of faith, the bonds of death will not subject her, because these words are words of life. Those who accept them will reach heaven, those who deny them will drown in hell (Sermon 4, 2-3).”
Stay safe and healthy. God bless. Fr. Rolly Arjonillo.
Almighty ever-living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. Through our Lord.
Collect prayer 3rd week in Ordinary Time
READING FROM A CHURCH DOCUMENT
The mystery of death
Pastoral Const. Gaudium et spes
In the face of death the enigma of human existence reaches its climax. Man is not only the victim of pain and the progressive deterioration of his body; he is also, and more deeply, tormented by the fear of final extinction. But the instinctive judgement of his heart is right when he shrinks from, and rejects, the idea of a total collapse and definitive end of his own person. He carries within him the seed of eternity, which cannot be reduced to matter alone, and so he rebels against death. All efforts of technology, however useful they may be, cannot calm his anxieties; the biological extension of his life-span cannot satisfy the desire inescapably present in his heart for a life beyond this life.
Imagination is completely helpless when confronted with death. Yet the Church, instructed by divine revelation, affirms that man has been created by God for a destiny of happiness beyond the reach of earthly trials. Moreover, the Christian faith teaches that bodily death, to which man would not have been subject if he had not sinned, will be conquered; the almighty and merciful Saviour will restore man to the wholeness that he had lost through his own fault. God has called man, and still calls him, to be united in his whole being in perpetual communion with himself in the immortality of the divine life. This victory has been gained for us by the risen Christ, who by his own death has freed man from death.
Faith, presented with solid arguments, offers every thinking person the answer to his questionings concerning his future destiny. At the same time, it enables him to be one in Christ with his loved ones who have been taken from him by death and gives him hope that they have entered into true life with God. Certainly, the Christian is faced with the necessity, and the duty, of fighting against evil through many trials, and of undergoing death. But by entering into the paschal mystery and being made like Christ in death, he will look forward, strong in hope, to the resurrection.
This is true not only of Christians but also of all men of good will in whose heart grace is invisibly at work. Since Christ died for all men, and the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, that is, a divine vocation, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being united with this paschal mystery in a way known only to God.
Such is the great mystery of man, enlightening believers through the Christian revelation. Through Christ and in Christ light is thrown on the enigma of pain and death which overwhelms us without his Gospel to teach us. Christ has risen, destroying death by his own death; he has given us the free gift of life so that as sons in the Son we may cry out in the Spirit, saying: Abba, Father!
VIDEO COMMENTARY
TOPIC: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THE STORMS IN YOUR LIFE?
Storms in our life can either shake us or shape us. We can groan in its face or grow into deeper faith. But it is up to us if we will let Jesus enter the boat of our life to navigate it to the safety of His harbor.
TOPIC 2: DO YOU WALK IN FEAR OR IN FAITH?
In today’s gospel reading (Mark 4:35-41), we reflect about the fear of the apostles when a violent storm breaks. What is striking is that Jesus was with them. Apparently, the apostles lacked faith. Jesus rebukes them for this. We, too, profess our belief in Him, yet when we encounter storms in our lives – physical, emotional, spiritual – we can cower in fear and drown in hopelessness.
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