TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

21 JUNE 2009. Today is the twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Below are today's readings and a reflection on today's mass.

Entrance Antiphon.--
God is the strength of his people. In him, we his chosen live in safety. Save us, Lord, who share in your life, and give us your blessing; be our shepherd for ever.

Opening Prayer.--
Father,
guider and protector of your people,
grant us an unfailing respect for your name,
and keep us always in your love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

First Reading.--
(Jb 38: 1, 8-11)
A Reading from the Book of Job

The LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said: Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands? When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door, and said: Thus far shall you come but no father, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!

Second Reading.--
(2 Cor 5: 14-17)
A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

Brothers and sisters: The Love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.

Gospel.--
(Mk 4: 35-41)
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

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 board 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 the wind and sea obey?"

Communion Antiphon.--

The eyes of all look to you, O Lord, and you give them food in due season.

Reflection.--

The Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time.

This is no ordinary time. The description of this part of the liturgical year is deceiving to the ear, but it is indeed an extraordinary time of grace. Society around us has left Easter behind. Lent is a faded photograph now forgotten. Yet, Advent and Christmas are still too far off to prepare for. So, what do we do? We busy ourselves with our everyday concerns. God—the Church—may be forgotten by some in this season, but it is an extraordinary gift to continue our journey with the Church through this Ordinary Time. In a sense, this is for us the most pilgrim journey of all; probably the smallest number of us are journeying with the Church in this season. Yet, the life of the Church moves on. Saints are celebrated each week, and each Gospel reading brings us more fully alive in Christ.

Today we hear a threefold message: the Lord is our strength and our Shepherd, what we cannot accomplish for ourselves, the Lord does for us; Christ has died for all so that none need ever die again, conquering death once and forever; and we are to be in humble awe of God because all are destined to live with Him, and be fully satisfied.

The entrance antiphon for today’s mass begins: “God is the strength of his people. In him, we his chosen live in safety.” God is indeed our strength. His grace preserves us and by the power of the Holy Spirit and His Love are we perpetuated day-to-day. Our lives are carried onward by Him. To rely on our own strength is folly. We have no strength without the strength of His love. And, then, we are reminded that if we live in Christ we have nothing to fear. His strength protects and holds us. Nothing we can do is too big for God.

The Lord is not strength in some abstract sense. He is the shepherd of our lives. Referring to the entrance antiphon again, it ends with the plea that the Lord “be our shepherd for ever.” We pray not only that Our Lord’s strength sustain us, which is unfailing in His love, but also that we receive the shepherd’s care and attention for each one of us, especially the lost sheep in need of being returned to the fold. That is why the opening prayer today begins with our attempt to vocalize a description of God, describing the Lord as the: “guider and protector of your
people . . . .” It is the shepherd that guides and protects his flock. And before the doxology of the opening prayer, we pray, “keep us always in your love.” Humbly we acknowledge our reliance on God’s strength and his watchfulness for us as our shepherd. We acknowledge that His Love is what gives us life. And so we pray, ever knowledgeable of our faults, that the Lord will always keep us in His abundant love.

As the communion antiphon says: “The eyes of all look to you, O Lord, and you give them food in due season.” We are all reliant on the Lord, and His grace is enough to satisfy each of us in proportion to our needs.

Such is the Lord’s strength, that He accomplishes for us what we cannot accomplish, and brings all His works to completion. In this realization, we pray to have true respect for the name of the Lord. In the first reading from the Book of Job, the Lord is hidden from Job, but speaks to him. The Lord asks: “Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands?” The sea is a force incapable of being suppressed by humanity. So, the Lord asks who, but I, can put the sea behind doors, “when it burst forth from the womb”? In this question, too, the Lord reveals that he has made the clouds as garment for the sea and given it “thick darkness” for swaddling clothes.

This descriptive question appears to have two purposes. For Job, the question presupposes an answer that the Lord is capable of doing what humanity cannot accomplish, and that the Lord is so capable from the beginning of His creation, providing all that is necessary (i.e., the sea’s garments) for His creation with loving care (i.e., the swaddling bands). For us people blessed with the knowledge of Christ, we see an additional message in this question. The Lord’s question could be paraphrased this way for us: “Who shut the doors on death, when Christ came forth from the womb of the Virgin; when I provided all that is necessary for the salvation of my people, with the loving care of the Good Shepherd?”

The Lord answers the question with an affirmative statement. In the language of the reading, the Lord shut the doors of the sea, “[w]hen [He] set limits for it and fasten[s] the bar of its door, and said: Thus far shall you come but no father, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!” Again, the strength of the Lord is an awesome presence. He commands the sea, and it is limited by His command—His Word, Christ. Here the sea is a metaphor for death, which cannot be overcome by man himself, but is overcome by Christ. Not only does the Lord set the sea behind doors, but he sets limits for it and bars the door. Man can no more set limits for the sea than he can exercise control over it. God, by his loving actions accomplishes what humanity is incapable of. With words, the Lord commands the sea. This is Job’s experience, but we also know the rest of the story. Death is the great end over which man has no control, but Our God has acted in His love to shut the doors on death. Again, God accomplishes what man is incapable of. It is the Word of God, Christ Himself, that commands and destroys death by his own holy passion, death and resurrection! We will see later in the mass that Christ commands the sea as well, the physical and the metaphorical are under the control of the loving Shepherd, who acts out of Love for us.

Certainly humanity was not entitled to Christ. Humanity is the creation of God, but He is a loving God, and we are blessed by that love. So, just as a shepherd acts to seek out the lost sheep, Our God acts to benefit humanity with Christ. Shutting the doors on death, and giving all the hope of salvation which is our destiny.

The second reading from Saint Paul makes clear Christ’s role as the pinnacle of salvation history. “[O]ne died for all; therefore, all have died.” We need not die because Christ, once and for all, died for us. Our God, having the strength to accomplish what humanity cannot, humbled Himself to serve as a sacrifice for us, His creation. By his Love, not by our merit, we have been offered salvation through Christ. That is why we pray for unfailing respect for the name of Christ. As Saint Paul says: “He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Having died with Christ, all those who live now live for Christ. He has taken our place in death, and by doing so has called us to salvation with Him.

The consequence of this is profound. We can no longer live just as we want, considering only our own selfish desires. We cannot live as though God has not given us this greatest gift. We must (as Saint Paul says: “The Love of Christ impels us . . . .”) live for Christ, the Greatest Gift, and regard no one according to our own will, but bow our will to the will of God in how we conduct ourselves. Saint Paul says this is so even for those who knew Christ as a man, but now he is hidden from us a man. The fact that the humanity of Christ is now hidden is an aide to us because we are to love him not merely as a man, but as true man and true God. Saint Paul says: “Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer.”

We are new creations in Christ. Not merely humans, but called to the divine destiny of life everlasting with Christ, our God. We are no longer held captive by death; the old days of captivity to death are gone. Today, by the power of Christ, we are all made new to live forever in Him. “[W]hoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”

The Gospel reading opens with Christ addressing his disciples. His beloved is who he converses with in an intimate way. Our Lord tells his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” He does not command them, but entreats them. He has the strength to command all, as will be witnessed later that night, but he entreats his disciples to journey with Him.

Then the Gospel tells us that the disciples, “took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.” This makes it sound as though Jesus is passive in the action, being taken by His disciples. Indeed. He humbles Himself to us as a sacrifice, and relies on our Love in return. While capable of accomplishing what humanity cannot, our Savior allows himself to be carried by humanity. And, they take him “just as he was.” Without fanfare or triumph, Christ travels with His disciples. Notice too that the Gospel tells us that “other boats were with him.” Although Jesus withdraws and it taken by His disciples, he does not abandon the remainder of the people.

As Jesus and his disciples are traveling across the sea, a storm arises that frightens them and makes the danger of harm appear imminent. Where is Christ? The Gospel tells us that he is asleep on a cushion. He has nothing to fear, He knows the truth. This world cannot overcome God. But, the disciples are frightened, and so are forced to wake Our Lord and beg for Him to do something. Notice, that Christ is not detached from their plight, after all He is in the boat too, but he is not frightened as they are. Christ knows that He, God, can accomplish what the people around Him cannot. He can save them this night, and He has come to give them salvation once and forever. Upon rising, Christ “rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm.”

Stop here to reflect again on the first reading from the Book of Job. Just as the Lord, then hidden, tells Job that He commands the sea, and in doing so tells of the coming of Christ, now Christ Himself, visible, in fact does command the sea. In both instances, God’s strength does for humanity what it cannot do, and brings completion to that work. In both instances, Our Lord loves and protects his people as a shepherd care for his flock. This story, though, is not over. Christ now asks his disciples: “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” And, the Gospel tells us, “[t]hey were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this whom even the wind and sea obey?’” Of course Christ knew the answer to His question before he asked it. Christ is asking the question to draw the disciples to Himself through His love, not by mere command. He has the power to command, but Our God draws us to Himself through his Love. The same love—strength—that sustains our very lives.

Just as the disciples respond to Christ with awe. We too should be in awe of Christ. Our awe, however, is different. We have the Church, with her truthful teaching, to give us the knowledge of the truth that the disciples, at that point, still failed to grasp. We do not ask in awe: “Who then is this whom even the wind and sea obey?” We know Christ is God. We know that He came to die once and for all, so that all may live forever in Him. We know that although he can command us, Our Lord asks for our love in return instead. We know that the strength of God can and has done what humanity cannot do. We know that Christ is the Good Shepherd who leads and protects us, giving us what we need to sustain us. And, we know that our very existence is dependent on His Love. We are to be humble before Him. We are to live different lives because of this knowledge.

Not for the mere miracle of commanding the sea, but for this knowledge which the Church proclaims, we stand in reverent awe of Our Lord.