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Contemplating today's Gospel

Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)

Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
View 1st Reading and Psalm
1st Reading (Heb 11:1-2.8-19): Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age and Sarah herself was sterile for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac: and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name. He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.
Responsorial Psalm: Lk 1
R/. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel; he has come to his people.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old. That he would save us from our sins from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the bonds of our enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
Versicle before the Gospel (Jn 3:16): Alleluia. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life. Alleluia.
Gospel text (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 him 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?”

“Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

Fr. Joaquim FLURIACH i Domínguez (St. Esteve de P., Barcelona, Spain)

Today, the Lord rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith: “Do you not yet have faith?” (Mark 4:40). Jesus Christ had already given sufficient proof of being the Messiah, and yet they still did not believe. They did not realize that, having the Lord himself with them, they had nothing to fear. Jesus draws a clear parallel between “faith” and “courage.”

Elsewhere in the Gospel, faced with a situation in which the Apostles doubt, it is said that they still could not believe because they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. The Lord would need much patience to continue teaching the first disciples what they themselves would later show us, and of which they would be firm and courageous witnesses.

It would be very good if we, too, felt “rebuked.” All the more reason! We have received the Holy Spirit, who enables us to understand how the Lord truly accompanies us on our journey through life, if we truly seek to always do the Father’s will. Objectively, we have no reason for cowardice. He is the one Lord of the Universe, because “even wind and sea obey” (Mark 4:41), as the disciples declare in amazement.

So, what is it that frightens me? Are the reasons so serious that they call into question the infinitely great power of Love that the Lord has for us? This is the question that our martyr brothers knew how to answer, not with words, but with their very lives. Like so many of our brothers and sisters who, with God's grace, every day transform each contradiction into another step in the growth of faith and hope. Why not us? Do we not feel within ourselves the desire to love the Lord with all our mind, with all our strength, with all our soul?

One of the greatest examples of courage and faith is Mary, Help of Christians, Queen of Confessors. At the foot of the Cross, she knew how to keep the light of faith alive... which became resplendent on the day of the Resurrection!

Thoughts on Today's Gospel

  • “When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.” (Saint John Mary Vianney)

  • “The Apostles should not fear threats: Christ —although silent— is in the boat and, for that very reason, it has never sunk.” (Benedict XVI)

  • “The first and last point of reference of this catechesis will always be Jesus Christ himself, who is ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’ (Jn 14:6). It is by looking to him in faith that Christ's faithful can hope that he himself fulfills his promises in them, and that, by loving him with the same love with which he has loved them, they may perform works in keeping with their dignity.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 1698)

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