Breaking Open the Word - 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B — June 20th, 2021
The “stormy” readings this Sunday called us to reflect on God’s unfathomable power over the forces of nature, but also over the spiritual turmoil that can rock our lives. Before discussing the wind and the waves, however, we turned to the Second Reading. The image of the Christian as a “new creation” particularly struck one Sister, who had been deeply moved by a discussion of the same topic in Jean Corbon’s book, The Wellspring of Worship. The central question raised by this doctrine is obvious: how can we call ourselves a new creation in Christ if we are still weak, sinful, and subject to the evils of the world? Has nothing changed as a result of our Baptism? Yes, everything has changed, but it takes the eyes of faith to see this reality fully. In fact, it is analogous to our faith in the Holy Eucharist – while the external appearances remain the same, the entire substance is changed! What particularly moved Sister, however, was the way in which Christ (and the entire Trinity) dwells within us. According to Corbon, the Lord resides at the absolute deepest core of our soul, where even our personal woundedness cannot reach, and He invites us into that place with Him. When we remain faithfully with Him in this “inner sanctuary” through prayer and recollection, then His grace can radiate out through the different levels of our being, transforming us and even making our wounds glorious like His own. The spiritual life is about so much more than merely “following rules” and “doing the right thing” – it is an invitation from God to encounter Him, the Divine Guest of our soul, in an ever-growing relationship of love!
We are so prone to identify ourselves and others in terms of “externals,” from physical appearance to psychological health. Many of these factors are totally beyond our control, and at times we can feel frustrated at the seemingly insurmountable difficulties in our lives. But Christ reveals to us that, in Him, we have a deeper identity that cannot be touched except through our own free choice. It is this inviolable human dignity that ultimately matters in each of our lives, and in Heaven, we will see each other for who we truly are: sons and daughters of God. But why wait? The Lord calls us to begin seeing ourselves and others in this way now!
Ships at harbor in Santorini
Another Sister then shared her reflections on today’s Psalm, especially verse 30b: “and He brought them to the harbor they longed for.” (NAB-RE translation) What is the “harbor” that each of us longs for? On the one hand, we can certainly see this as a description of Heaven, the ultimate goal of our life’s journey. However, drawing on our earlier discussion, Sister said that even in this life, we are called to long for the “harbor” of interior union with God. When we are “anchored” in Him, though He may not always take away the storm, we are able to maintain peace of heart even as the wind and waves rage. Saint after Saint testifies to the fact that the Lord wishes to bring us to this deep peace, which paradoxically becomes more obvious when we are undergoing external or even emotional/spiritual distress. God Himself is our “harbor,” and by dwelling in Him we can weather any storm.
Finally, we looked at the famous story in the Gospel, in which Jesus calms the storm. Though we tend to focus on the terror the disciples experienced during the tempest itself, one Sister suggested that it must have been almost more frightening to see the sudden ending of that storm at Jesus’ mere word! In fact, one translation of this passage describes the disciples’ reaction to the miracle thus: “they were exceedingly afraid.” Bishop Robert Barron, in his well-known Catholicism series, highlights another similar passage in Mark: “They were amazed, and those who followed [Jesus] were afraid.” (Mk 10:32) Yet, this is a different kind of fear than the terror inspired by the storm – this is the reverential awe of finite human nature when faced with the unfathomable power of God. In fact, this same awe-inspiring quality can also be found in the Saints. Those who have encountered exceptionally holy persons (for instance, Pope St. John Paul II) often attest to the fact that they were overcome by a sense of reverence and even fear in the presence of one so united to God. However, this “fear of the Lord” will only bear fruit in our lives if we respond to it in faith. Judas spent three years in the presence of Christ, seeing all of His miracles and teachings, and yet betrayed Him! But if we embrace this sacred gift and use it as a motivation to adore and love our magnificent God all the more, then we can begin to see why the Old Testament prophets sang, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom!”