12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B
Prayer
Loving Father, You have given us the virtue of faith to follow Your Son. May we place our faith in Him alone and find, at the end of our journey on earth, a place with You in heaven. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
1st Reading: Job 38:1, 8-11
As in last week’s readings, we are addressing the theme of the virtue of faith.
In our First Reading, we come upon the familiar story of the Prophet Job. For our purposes, this reading addresses the conclusion of the Book of Job where God chastises the prophet for his lack of faith.
As we recall, Job questioned why he had to endure such great suffering in his life. Indeed, Job’s suffering was great; even though his fidelity to God could not be matched by others in his day. He was very faithful. To test his faith in God, Job was given a series of trials — trials that would test anyone’s patience.
After his long ordeal, God answers Job’s cry. God does this with a question of his own. Out of the storm, God asks Job where he was when God created the universe, the world, the power of the sea and all it contains. The purpose of the story is to acknowledge that our mere human mind cannot comprehend the transcendent mind of God. Job’s faith must not depend merely on his senses, especially when his faith is tested.
Question:
How has your faith in God been tested?
2nd Reading: 2 Cor. 5:14-17
Something new and radical is proclaimed by St. Paul. His own conversion to Christ changed his view of the world
once known primarily through his senses. Creation, as he once understood it, has radically been altered.
St. Paul says:
“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”
Relying on the sense of faith in Christ (a sixth sense, as it were), Paul acknowledges that we cannot rely on the senses “according to the flesh.” In his letter, Paul is writing to those who may have even witnessed Jesus in the flesh before He died and rose from the dead. But now, Paul urges his audience to know the resurrected Christ who ascended into heaven and lies beyond our physical sight.
Faith has never relied on the senses of this world. The sense of faith is a matter that acknowledges a world beyond our senses.
Question:
How do you use your “sixth sense” of faith when your other senses are tested?
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41
Jesus invites His disciples — and us — to “cross to the other side.” Crossing to the other side means trusting in Christ alone and not relying on our senses to make up for our lack of faith.
As Jesus is fast asleep in the boat, our world view (through our senses alone) can appear to be hectic and stormy. Relying merely on our senses, we can repeat the words of the disciples, “[Lord], do you not care that we are perishing?”
One of the earliest Christian symbols painted or carved on the burial places in ancient catacombs was a boat with a cross in the middle. The symbol represented the believing Church on mission with Christ who was in the center of their boat. With Christ in the center of our lives —even if He appears to be sleeping — our faith is secure.
Question:
How is Christ the center of your life, especially during personal hardships?
This Week’s Task
Make a list of three storms that you had to endure in your life. Write them down.
In what way did your faith in God get you through these storms? How has your “sixth sense” of faith been strengthened? As you approach other storms, will you trust your sense of faith?
Group Prayer
A prayer from St. Augustine:
Frail is our vessel, and the ocean is wide; but as in Your mercy You have set our course, so steer the vessel of our life towards the everlasting shore of peace, and bring us at length to the quiet haven of our heart’s desire, where you, 0 God, are blessed, and live and reign for ever and ever.
Amen.
The prayer continues with Psalm 107
Psalm
Response: Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Conclude with an Our Father
Used with permission. All rights reserved. Christ in Our Neighborhood is a Scripture program designed by Bishop John P. Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix.