Finding Calm in Our Heavenly Father

Homily: Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark 4:35-41

20 June 2021

Fr. Ricky C. Montanez, AA

I haven’t been getting much sleep lately. I always find myself waking up at 3 AM for no reason and have trouble falling back asleep. I’m told perhaps I haven’t gotten used to my new environment yet. Another friend joked…  It’s because I’m getting old. (Pag maaga nagigising alam na. Palatandaan na daw yan!) I read online that when one ages, sleep patterns change. You need less hours of sleep at night and more short naps throughout the day. Another suggested I may be developing a sleep disorder like sleep apnea but I have no one to corroborate this. (Because I sleep alone.) It really is tough when we are deprived of sleep. We need it to properly rest our minds and our bodies. 

In today’s gospel passage from Mark, Jesus sleeps! The story tells us of an incident wherein Jesus and His disciples are out in the boat during a violent storm that is likely tossing the vessel about and crashing waves against it. This causes the disciples to panic in fear for their lives.  Strangely enough Jesus is peacefully asleep at the stern. His disciples call out to Him “Teacher, do you not care, that we are perishing”.  Why indeed was Jesus asleep? If we go back to the start of Chapter 8, we see that Jesus had a long day of healing. He healed the man with leprosy, the centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, all the sick, and he even expelled demons from the possessed.  At day’s end He is exhausted as He boards the boat with His disciples and so He falls asleep. It is evident in Jesus’ response to His disciples’ desperation: “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” (Matthew 8:26) Jesus questions the faith of His disciples, their trust in God, and in effect, their trust in Him who is the Son of God. 

Sometimes, we can be no different from the disciples. When things go wrong with our plans, or when we are overstressed with problems, we wonder in exasperation if God has been sleeping on the job.  I have a friend who approached me for counselling once. Her father had just died after a lingering illness and she was feeling lost.  She had prayed for his recovery and she sacrificed her career and her social life to care for him. After his death she confessed she felt that she had been cheated out of life. She felt she made the right choice by gambling what she had built up for herself in the hope of prolonging her dad’s life but she ended up losing everything anyway. For a long time she refused to pray. She went to Sunday masses angry with God and often ended up crying tears of hurt and frustration. My friend described her dad as a doting father who personally looked after his daughters and raised them well. And that was why it was difficult to have him die. I believe it reminds us that kids shouldn’t take their fathers for granted and make them feel loved and appreciated. As it is Father’s Day, we greet all our fathers. Similarly, there are those who have lost loved ones, livelihood and rare opportunities because of the pandemic and were tempted to ask God if He truly cared about humanity. They feel they have suffered enough and are close to giving up.  Such are the storms, which in biblical terms, represent the forces of evil deemed at work in creation. When the waves and the wind are threatening, how do you respond? 

Jesus managed to sleep through the chaos. Does he simply take after His earthly Father, St. Joseph? Perhaps… but more importantly I’d say He sleeps soundly because He has confidence in His Heavenly Father. In a very literal manner, Jesus shows us what it means to trust that God is our Father. It is to live with the assurance that a Father does everything to protect his children. And even if he allows his children to undergo painful experiences, it is meant to strengthen them and to better equip them to deal with more difficult life challenges.  He never abandons them, nor does He remain a spectator. He is there to encourage, guide, and console.  Jesus knew this in his heart.  His steadfast faith in His Father became his soft pillow. He sleeps because there is an overwhelming sense of peace and calm within Him because His Father will never fail Him. 

Another element of the story I find important is that Jesus gave in to the request of his disciples to take action. The fact that He is able to command the natural elements is an exercise of His divine power. The Bible has accounts where God the Father triumphs over chaotic waters such as the parting of the red sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army. We are reminded again and again of God’s power to protect us… to take care of us, to secure us from all storms of our life. Some of the Psalms make references to this belief: “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.” (Psalm 29:10) “The Lord stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves, and the tumult of the peoples.” (Psalm 65:7) In Psalm 89, it says: “You [O God] rule the swelling of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them.” (Psalm 89:9).  By calming the stormy seas, Jesus manifests His power and total control over the hostility of nature the power of God is over and above all forces of evil in the world. Isn’t this enough assurance for us?  

Brothers and sisters, today’s Gospel illustrates the value of rest and how all of us followers of Jesus ought to confront the storms in our life.  We must keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, no matter how strong the wind blows and how strong it lashes from different directions.  We must walk toward Jesus, hold tight to Him.  We must cling and be resilient on our grip as we anchor on the power of the Lord … on the power of His Word. We have to remain steadfast, unwavering, undisturbed of the swirling powers around us.  

Pope Francis urged all the faithful in his Urbi et Orbi message “Let us invite Jesus into the boats of our lives. Let us hand over our fears to Him so that he can conquer them. Like the disciples, we will experience that with Him on board there will be no shipwreck.” May the Lord increase our little faith so that in all the storms of life we shall conquer everything. With Him at our side, we echo St. Paul’s words in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Here are some ways you can help San Roque Parish, Fr. Ricky’s new assignment:

*Bank Transfer or Deposit:

Robinson Bank: RCBC San Roque Parish

Account number: 115230002492

*Please make checks payable to: RCBC San Roque Parish