First reading: Job 38:1,8-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 107
Second reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Gospel reading: Mark 4:35-41
"Who can this be that the wind and sea obey Him?"
The gospel presents a miracle story: Jesus stilling the storm. This is how the miracle took place. Jesus and His disciples leave the crowd, and ride in boats further out into the sea. At sea, a bad squall blew up, and the waves were breaking over the boat. The disciples became alarmed and went to Jesus - who was in the stern sound asleep. They woke Jesus up, and expressed their alarm - fearing that they would all perish. Jesus immediately responded, rebuked the wind and stilled the sea with a command from His voice. Suddenly, everything became calm. Jesus then said to His disciples, "Why are you so terrified? Why lack in faith?" A great awe filled the hearts of the disciples, for they have just witnessed something no ordinary man can do - to command the wind and the sea to obey.
In his book, "The Miracle Stories", bible scholar and author Herman Hendrickx says that the previous verses of this gospel passage writes about Christ withdrawing from the crowd. These people flock to Christ whom they have heard to be a healer. But Christ withdraws from certain persons in the crowd whose unclean spirits wanted to make Him known as the "exorcistic Son of God". Fr. Herman Hendricks teaches that Jesus had to withdraw from the crowds because He did not want to be identified as only a "healer-exorcist". And indeed, the miracle of the calming of the storm has proven that the Lord Jesus was more than just a "healer-exorcist". The calming of the storm leads us to see Him in the context of the divine.
It took time before the apostles got to know who Jesus was. It was only with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that they finally learned the whole truth about their Master. Like the apostles, we too have to make sense of who Jesus is for us. In the journey of faith, we will experience many ills and sins healed by God in the sacraments. These are the miracles of grace that we encounter. These are the everyday miracles of faith, courage, hope and holding on to Christ in prayer and the Sacraments. As we experience these "miracles" that save us from the "storms of life", we grow in a deeper knowledge and love of God. It this knowledge and love of God that impelled the apostles to preach the Kingdom. We too, by our baptismal consecration, are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and His apostles.
