12th Sunday of the Year (B)

(Edited) Reflections for the 12th Sunday of the Year, Year B

"Why are you lacking in faith?"

In this Sunday's gospel, Jesus displayed His divine power over the storm, and commented on the lack of faith expressed by his apostles. His followers, as the gospel described, were quite alarmed and thought that all of them will drown due to the strong storm. This story of Jesus stilling the storm in the gospel of Mark is before that point in the gospel when the identity of Jesus was known through the confession of Peter ["You are the Christ"], which is in Chapter 8. So in the experience of the storm, the apostles only had a vague knowledge of who Jesus is. This vague knowledge was expressed in the comment: "Who can this be that the wind and the sea obey him?" Since they do not as yet know who Jesus was, they had no faith in Him in that storm incident.

Each one is journeying together with the Church further on into a deeper and greater knowledge of who Christ is. Most often, the "storms" experienced in life come when one does not yet have a deeper personal knowledge of Christ, or when one has forgotten Christ in his way of life and work. "Storms" come and arrive. They are part of the seasons of life in the world: economic storms, wars, stormy relationships, great losses in life [a loved one, a job, a relationship, divorce, bankruptcy in business], illness, etc. It often comes not only to test our faith in Jesus, but to deepen our knowledge and rootedness in His will. The best response to "storms" is to be proactive - spiritually. We are called always to be vigilant, to watch and pray, so that we do not get mired in fears, worries and anxieties. Anxieties can blind us like the apostles, who only then saw and realized that Jesus was with them, and when awakened, surprisingly stilled the storm.

In all the storms of life, there is a call to be "proactive" spiritually. To discipline ourselves spiritually and avoid that blindness that makes us forget that the Lord is with us. He is always present. Much of our time are often delegated to matters which does not integrate our life in the Spirit, or which distracts us to that interior life cultivated often in times of retreats and recollections. We are then called to live a more balanced life, spiritually and temporally, so that when stormy circumstances arrive, we act in faith and not paralyzed by fear. We are called to always water that mustard seed of faith in our soul, that it may grow to a great tree of faith, rooted deeply in Christ, His Word and Sacrament. And He is always there in every Blessed Sacrament of any parish. He is also within us in our baptismal consecration. Jesus is present to us through the members of the family, and through friends and loved ones. He can even be present through mere acquaintances, who, being moved by the Spirit at unexpected times, are there to be "God-is-with-us" for us.

And so at this time of our history, when we are faced with difficulties in the global scene, storms will be daily fare. St. John Paul II has a message that will get us through: "Be not afraid". His intercession will help humanity see that Christ is One who has power even over a "global storm" that may be impending: one that could disrupt even the peace of our world. Each one's respective Christian task is simple. Keep faith in Jesus. We take responsibility for nurturing our faith in Him. We make it strong by cultivating a personal relationship with Him that is rooted in strongly bonded relationships with family and with the institutions of our society, particularly, our parish, with our religious communities, and our local government, and the country's relationship with the rest of the world. The task and discipline is simple: humbly practice a "proactive" way of life, prayer, and work with Jesus and with others.