St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish
Theme:
“He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.” (Mark 4:39)
Do we allow Jesus to be Lord over our entire life? Do we allow Jesus to be Lord over all
the things in the universe? Do we allow Jesus to be Lord over all the elements of nature
in our universe? This week’s Gospel tells us that the disciples of Jesus called upon him to
be Lord over the windstorm in their universe during their travel by sea:
“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?” (Mark 4:36-38)
Whenever there is a windstorm on the sea of our life, do we call on Jesus to help us?
Whenever there is a windstorm in the faith of our life, do we rely on Jesus to help us?
Whenever there is a windstorm in the life of others, do we ask Jesus to help them? Jesus
is able to calm and silence any storm, provided we call upon him: “[Jesus] woke up and
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there
was a dead calm.” (Mark 4:39)
There are moments in our life when we think that the safety boat of our life is being
swamped with waves of water and troubles. During such moments, we need to remember
that Jesus still cares even if we think he is asleep. Jesus is truly the one who brings true
calm, peace, and serenity during windstorms in our life. So when Jesus invites us to travel
with him, we need to rely on him to be Lord over stormy moments in our life: “When
evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us go across to the other side’” (Mark
4: 35).
Whenever things in the universe of our life begin to be swamped, we need to have faith to
obey Jesus as the Lord over humanity, nature, and universe. Whenever things in the
universe of our life begin to be swamped, we need to be filled with awe and reverence
that Jesus is the Lord over all the things that surround us:
“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?’”
God is the Lord over all the things in our life. For example, God reminds Job that he is
Lord even over whirlwind:
“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)
God is Lord over all the creatures of the universe:
“Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty waters;
they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven and they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their calamity.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out from their distress;
he made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad when it grew calm,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to human beings.” (Psalm 107.23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31)
Are we willing to allow God to be Lord over moments of whirlwind in our life? Are we
willing to allow Jesus to be Lord over moments of whirlwind in our life? Jesus is Lord
over universe, so he urges us to be a new creation so that he might be Lord over his new
creation:
“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 Corinthians 5.14-17)
During this twelfth Sunday in ordinary time 2021, When situations in our life look like a
windstorm in our life, do will call on Jesus Christ to help us? Do we allow God to be
Lord over our life even if we feel there is a whirlwind at a moment in our life? Do we live
as a new creation because Christ is Lord over our life and universe? What are the things
that we might ask Jesus to keep calm and silent in our life?