Posted bydivineunmeritedlove23rd Jun 202423rd Jun 2024Posted inCatholic Daily Reading and ReflectionTags:Catholic Reflection, Lectionary, Presentation Ministries, USCCB
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 95
Reading I
Jb 38:1, 8-11
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 farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stilled!
Responsorial Psalm
107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31
R. (1b) Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They who sailed the sea in ships,
trading on the deep waters,
These saw the works of the LORD
and his wonders in the abyss.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
His command raised up a storm wind
which tossed its waves on high.
They mounted up to heaven; they sank to the depths;
their hearts melted away in their plight.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They cried to the LORD in their distress;
from their straits he rescued them,
He hushed the storm to a gentle breeze,
and the billows of the sea were stilled.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They rejoiced that they were calmed,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his kindness
and his wondrous deeds to the children of men.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading II
2 Cor 5:14-17
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.
Alleluia
Lk 7:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has risen in our midst
God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mk 4:35-41
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?”
REFLECTION: A STORMY RELATIONSHIP
“The Lord addressed Job out of the storm.” —Job 38:1
You’re in a veritable hurricane of difficulty, and all you can see of Jesus is that He’s asleep. You want to scream, “Jesus, don’t You care?” (seeMk 4:38) However, Jesus “cares for you” (1 Pt 5:7). “Indeed He neither slumbers nor sleeps, [your] Guardian” (Ps 121:4). Since Jesus never sleeps on the job of guarding you, His sleeping in the boat of the Church and of your life must carry another meaning. Possibly, Jesus’ act of sleeping in the boat is yet another case of Him giving us an example (seeJn 13:15).
The disciples, accustomed to the storms of the sea, finally experienced a storm they couldn’t handle. Jesus was in the same storm and the same boat, but was asleep. He had perfect peace in the raging storm. What an Example! (1 Pt 2:21) Facing death, Jesus yawns, arises, and stops the chaos (Mk 4:39).
Jesus has shared His Eucharistic Body (Lk 22:19) and divine nature with us (2 Pt 1:4). He wants to give us His own peace (Jn 20:19). He expects us to follow His example and trust Him in the worst times. This is evident, because instead of comforting His panicked disciples, He challenges them, exclaiming: “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?” (Mk 4:40)
Jesus states that we, His disciples,willundergo storms and trials (Mt 7:25). “It is a test for you, but it should not catch you off guard” (1 Pt 4:12). When Jesus the Good Shepherd judges it to be the proper time, He will lead you from the stormy waters to the still waters (Ps 23:2;Ps 107:30). Trust Him and do not fear (Mk 5:36). Jesus is Lord over all storms.
Prayer: Jesus, You are my Refuge. I will not be afraid (Ps 27:1).
Promise: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” —2 Cor 5:17
Praise: Praise Jesus, Whom the winds and waves obey.
Published by divineunmeritedlove
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