Trust

Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time A-1

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 96 (95):1, 6 O sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In his presence are majesty and splendour, strength and honour in his holy place.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: 2 Samuel 12:1-7. 10-17; Psalm 50; Mark 4:35-41

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, Let us go over to the other side. Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don't you care if we perish? He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Quiet! Be still! Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? They were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him! (Mark 4:35-41)

Trust Our Gospel scene today may be said to encapsulate much of the history of mankind. The day has been full of work. We are told at the beginning of the chapter that Jesus “began to teach by the shore, and there was gathered before him a great multitude,” requiring that he get into a boat and teach from a little out from the shore. Sample parables are given of his teaching — such as the one portraying the sower going out to sow and describing the different soils that received his seed. The implication is that our Lord taught for hours that day, for we are told that it was “when evening came” that he sent the crowds away. Then, as if to emphasise our Lord’s weariness, it is the disciples who “took him even as he was to the boat.” They managed the departure for him, and before long, our Lord was fast asleep in the boat. He was physically exhausted, while utterly in the hands of his heavenly Father. We can surely see this labour and this exhaustion of the Son of God made man as a picture of man at work, the man of history, mankind in his toil. Man is born into this life for work and that is exactly what our Lord had been doing. His disciples had also been working in the assistance of their Master, and they undoubtedly did all they could to enable him to rest while they managed the large boat across the Lake. They themselves were now at work, steering the vessel across the broad Sea of Galilee. But then we see a second feature of human history. Man works and he suffers tribulation. He undergoes reversals and, not uncommonly, tragedies. In view of the storms that are recorded in the Gospels, one wonders how often there were fatal mishaps and loss of life among Galilean fishermen. In our scene today the disciples believed they were in danger of drowning. “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don’t you care if we perish?”(Mark 4:35‑41). In the midst of this crisis, there was no word from our Lord. He was in profound repose, and the striking calmness of his sleep is suggested by his disciples’ reproach: “do you not care if we perish?”

Time and time again in human tragedies, there seems to be no word from God. He seems to be asleep, calmly asleep in the midst of terrible crises. When our Lord was roused and at a word calmed the storm, he said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” He was reproaching them, not for failing to have faith in him after he calmed the storm, but for failing in faith while he was asleep. They failed in faith when the crisis was at its height. Our Lord did not get to his feet and apologise to them that a crisis was allowed to occur, or assure them that he understood their alarm. Such a crisis could easily happen, for they were out on the Sea. Many crises in life can and will occur. A fine young girl from an excellent family, having had an excellent upbringing, and herself having certain admirable qualities, marries and embarks on her new life as wife, mother and homemaker. Gradually, her husband shows his true qualities. He is very selfish and thoughtless. He abandons the practice of his Christian Faith and is of little use in the upbringing of the children. She is more and more alone in fulfilling the duties of her life. There is one storm after another, but she is faithful. She prays and prays, but the husband does not change. God seems to be asleep in the midst of the storms, despite her appeals and her saying to him, “Do you not care that I am going down?” But she remains faithful. She continues to pray, too. At the end of her long life she has the joy of seeing her husband return to a responsible and Christian life. God has not been asleep, and she did not fail in faith. The disciples rouse our Lord from his sleep — as was good and natural — but our Lord implies that they should have had faith in him all along, even though he was asleep. That is to say, no matter what the tribulation, and no matter what its upshot, faith in God is an obligation. Our Lord himself would face the greatest possible tribulations and not be saved from them. “Father! Let this cup pass from me,” he would pray in the Garden, “but not as I, but as you will!” The Father wished him to pass through the storm and, indeed, to drown. But all would be well, and he was raised up to his very right hand.

Man works, and he suffers his tribulations. In all his work, he must strive to do the will of God. In all his tribulations he must have faith in the Lord whom he is serving. Faith, faith to the very end, is the path for man in all his vulnerability. He is not at the mercy of chance and hostile forces, even if they appear to win the field. They will not win the field — only God will, if man continues to obey God and to have faith in him. Let Christ be our Teacher and our Model, and above all our Saviour whose hand is always upon us, even if absolutely unseen.

(E.J.Tyler)

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