Gospel Reflection 2020/2021

Everything happens for a reason. It is not always bright and sunny all year long. Whether we like it or not, rains, storms and thunderstorms are inevitable, essential and necessary in nature. Rains and storms bring rainfall to areas that need it, water the earth, and sustain life. Thunderstorms help to quickly diffuse and discharge the pent-up electrical energy in the atmosphere, and thus maintaining the earth-atmosphere electrical balance.

Though we all love peace and tranquility, there will be rains, storms and even thunderstorms in our life. Just like the natural phenomenon, these seemingly disruptive forces are inevitable, essential and necessary in our life. As Christians, we do not just believe everything happens for a reason but we believe that everything happens for God’s reason for ‘we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose’ [Rm 8: 28].

The Gospel reading of the 12^th Sunday in the Ordinary Time tells us of the disciples’ harrowing experience of a violent storm. They were traveling on a boat when a violent storm broke out: the boat they were in was hit by gale and waves, and they were sinking! Jesus, on the other hand, was sound asleep in the stern!

Similar to the Gospel account, the storms in our life (the never-ending pandemic, political turmoil, economic meltdown, etc.) has taken a toll on all of us. Like the disciples, we feel as if we are lost in the sea, mercilessly battered by the violent headwind. We are all assaulted by the enemy from every side – choked by worries and crippled by fear. And Jesus? He is nowhere to be seen… In anguish, we cry out, “Master, do You not care that we are sinking?!”

St Mark the Evangelist assures us that Jesus is in the boat with us. Storms can be disruptive and destructive at times, but they force us to pause and think. In the midst of every crisis, CHRIST IS – from the tempest the Lord speaks [Jb 38: 1]. We can choose to join the distraught disciples running around like headless chickens, or alternatively we can choose to remain cool, calm and confident next to our Lord. With the Lord, it is just another storm in the teacup. However, ‘remaining with our Lord’ does not mean idling or waiting passively for things to happen. ‘Remaining with our Lord’ means to ‘PRAY as though everything depended on God, and WORK as though everything depended on us’.

In the face of difficulty and danger, it is a normal human response to take flight or to flee. However, it is important that, regardless of our individual preferences or personal feelings, we do not desert the Boat of Christ! In the Old Testament, God saved through the ark of Noah: every life that remained in the ark survived the great flood. In the New Testament of our time, God saves through the Boat of Christ – the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church! St Anselm assures us that,

“The barque of the Church may be swept by the waves, but it can never sink, because Christ is there. When the Church is in greatest need, Christ comes to its help by miracles, or by raising up saintly men to strengthen and purify it. It is the barque of Peter; when the storm threatens to sink it, the Lord awakens from His sleep, and commands the winds and waters into calm: ‘Peace; be still!’”

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Come Lord Jesus, calm the storm in me.”