Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle B
June 20, 2021
Have you ever been seasick? Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman with the Sunday Soundbite for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Listening to today’s First Reading and the Gospel might recall some unpleasant experiences on board a ship, especially in a bad storm. In the First Reading, Job isn’t at sea except in his emotional state. But God is addressing this ancient holy man out of the midst of a fierce storm. And God asks Job to think about the power of the sea and its waves. That power, God says, is kept in check by God’s greater power!
Switch to the Gospel—here the disciples and Jesus are sailing in a bad storm and the boat is in some danger. When the disciples wake him with the warning that they’re in danger of sinking, the power of God described in the First Reading is brought to bear as Christ calms the wind and the waves.
Now I’ve never been in a really bad storm at sea. Nor have I been seasick, although I’ve been with a friend who was pretty miserable on a relatively calm sail across Lake Erie. But I have been tossed about by emotional winds and waves in my life. And—like the disciples—I’ve wondered if Jesus cared that I was sinking. So this Sunday I’ll be taking the Gospel to heart, and I hope you will too!
