Awesome God (12th Sunday Ordinary B)

Mass on a boat @ the Sea of Galilee

Celebrating the Holy Eucharist on a boat at the Sea of Galilee was my most cherished experience during my pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Being actually there gave me a taste of the locale of the many encounters between Jesus and his disciples who were mostly fishermen. The Sea of Galilee is said to be at once serene and terrifying. It can be very quiet at one moment and violent at another. What I experienced in my pilgrimage is the quiet moment. Thanks be to God!

But in the Gospel reading today, the Sea of Galilee displays the violence of its squalls, which arise and subside rapidly and unpredictably due to its peculiar geographical situation—It is located at the bottom of a long funnel created by rows of mountains to the north. The wind travels anytime through this funnel formation and bursts onto the sea creating violent waves. It is in such terrifying moment that we now see, in the gospel reading, the disciples of Jesus experiencing tremendous fear and sense of fragility.

The gospel and the rest of the readings for today, depicting the intimidating force and power that lurk in the sea, would have us reflect on the fact of our helplessness at times and the awesome power of God over his creation.

The Cry of Helplessness. Few situations leave men so helpless and despairing as storms at sea. This experience of utter helplessness is what today's Psalm tries to express:

“For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble…” (Ps 107: 25-28).

In the Gospel, Jesus was in the stern asleep on a cushion while the boat was already filled with water because of the big waves and the disciples were becoming frenzy, fearing for their lives. So they woke him up and cried out: “Master, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mk. 4: 40).

How come that Jesus allowed himself to fall asleep just when things were getting really tough and scary for his followers? Most probably He was allowing the storm to rage and by doing so He was evoking the sense of utter helplessness among his disciples. He wanted them to realize their total dependence on God.

In life, we face so many storms. It may be the painful illness and gradual deterioration of a loved one, the death of a beloved child, the breaking of the family due to infidelity of a spouse, damage caused by a family member's addictions, loss of an important job and financial ruin, etc. Many times, we question God for his seeming silence amid all these tempests in life. Perhaps, God plays asleep. Not because He doesn’t give a damn. But because He wants us to see our limitations and embrace our helplessness so that when we turn to Him, we seek him ardently as our only hope.

What storm are you facing right now? Know that it may be an invitation for you to accept your helplessness and run to God with trust and hope.

Awed by God’s Might. When we have come to terms with our helplessness in the face of so many storms in life, we begin to discover the greatness of God’s might saving us. In the first reading (Job 38: 1, 8-11), Yahweh broke his silence in response to the complaints of Job about all the “storms” that wrecked him.

God answers by reminding him that the Lord is master even of those storms, that he controls and limits them according to his omnipotent wisdom. The sea, in the Old Testament, because of its mystery, power, and unpredictability, was often used as a symbol for evil and chaos. But God tells Job that he has "set limits for it, and fastened the bar of its door." God doesn't explain to Job all the reasons behind everything he does and permits. Without much explanation, God simply reminds Job that He is all-powerful.

Similarly, in the gospel reading, Jesus faced the raging storm and rebuked it as he does to any evil spirit. He ordered the sea to be quiet and still. Indeed, the wind dropped and there was a great calm. The disciples were awed by what they witnessed:

“That a mere word from the Lord reins in nature's primeval brawn shocks the helpless fishermen even more than the stormy sea had frightened them just moments before. They had seen the Lord's miracles, they had heard his wisdom, they had witnessed his power over the human heart. But to see the most unruly powers that flow through the bowels of the universe submit like a well-trained golden retriever - this was a lordship they had not yet even conceived of; this is the lordship of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” ( Excerpt from"The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer").

May we experience too the mighty works of God and be awed by his power as He saves us from the storms of our lives. Never again should we doubt the power of God.

Our Invitation. When life's storms batter us, our families, and our communities, we are invited to act as the Apostles did in today's Gospel: to go to Jesus, waking him up with our cry of helplessness, and to place our total confidence in him, through our sincere, heart-to-heart prayer. Then trust that we will experience the awesome power of God saving us lovingly from the storms.

In God Only (5th Sun Ord C)

“Why am I unhappy? Why am I not contented with what I have?” This is a painful question for those who are conscientious in their search for meaning.

Years ago, a seemingly successful businessman in Makati bravely disclosed his experience of emptiness to me during a Lenten retreat. He was certain that he was giving his all to his job and to his family. He seemed to have everything a dignified person needed. Yet, he intentionally enrolled to that retreat because he was not happy. Despite his significant achievements in business through the years he could not understand from where the pang of emptiness that unceasingly throbbed deep within him was coming. He was quick to acknowledge his sense of success for everything he had done, and yet he had mustered his courage to admit to himself that a lot more is lacking.

I consoled him first by assuring him that “hindi ka nag-iisa…” that I, as a pastor, did experience the same emptiness too despite what I thought was a selfless giving of what I had to offer in the ministry.

For his meditation I suggested to pray using the scripture. I gave him the gospel episode of today (Lk 5:1-11) which portrays Peter, together with other fishermen, eventually leaving everything behind to follow Jesus in amazement because of the great catch of fish they had on account of Jesus’ instructions.

What did the retreatant gathered from this meditation? He was made to realize as clear as daylight that human efforts, even if undertaken with the highest possible degree of excellence, will be inadequate if God is not in them. This reminds us of the psalmist’s chant: “If God does not build the house, in vain do the builders labor.”

Peter, in the gospel today, is humbled by the fact that he and his fellow fishermen had worked hard all night and had not caught anything; yet at Jesus’ command, they lowered their nets again and, to the astonishment of all, they caught so great a number of fish that their nets were tearing and their boats were in danger of sinking! (v. 5-7).

“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (v. 8). This is Peter’s realization of his inadequacy in front of the Lord. How consoling for us to be reminded of this humbling experience of the first pope of the Church of Christ. And how reassuring that the Lord dispels every fear in our otherwise feeble commitment to take on his task as He says to Peter: “Fear not; from now on you will be catching men” (v. 10).

So here is the answer to our painful question. Whatever we do independently of God will be inadequate. The businessman may have been successful and proven excellent by his colleagues and even by his rivals, and a pastor may have emptied himself selflessly to his ministry, but if all they had done is to prove and depend on their human prowess, there is no wondering why at the end of the day they may find themselves unhappy, discontented, and, worst, empty. Without the Lord in our life everything is going to be in vain and fruitless. Again, “if the Lord does not build the house, in vain do the builders labor.”

Peter offers us today the right attitude. We need the humility to acknowledge our inadequacies.

When we are young and strong, we tend to be proud. We allow ourselves to be intoxicated by our sense of invincible power and strength believing we can always do it our own way. This may be a reason why the young in general do not care about God in their lives. They falsely believe they are self-sufficient. They have no need of God. All these they believe despite the remarkable anxieties and disturbing restlessness that characterize their generation.

The beauty of growing old, I think, is that we grow wiser each year. The less strong and powerful we become through time, the more readily we admit our incapacities. To be wiser then means to learn how to accept who we truly are in the face of God. A wise man is a humble man. A truly wise man knows he needs someone greater than he is to make things happen. He kneels, like Peter, with all humility in prayer, “I am inadequate and sinful. Depart from me.”

Yet it is in that moment of self-surrender, it is in that instance of humble acceptance of weakness that God’s power takes over; God’s power shines mightily unhampered by the foolish pride of the person! And just imagine what the person can do when he does things in the power of God!

It is God’s fecundity that brings forth abundance of fruits to our labor. It is God’s attractiveness that draws great number of “fish” to fill the boats to the point of sinking. It is God’s overflowing love that fills our hearts with so much joy that enables us to leave everything behind because we really don’t care about things when we have in our possession the greatest treasure of all. It is when we have allowed God to work through our human frailty, that we give glory to God and not to ourselves. It is then that we are truly, truly happy.

So why am I unhappy? Why am I not contented with what I have? It’s because I am relying too much on myself, doing things, acquiring things in my own “excellent” terms. Because everything I do is all about me… me… and me! Because my pride has kept God’s bountiful and enabling grace at bay unable to work wonders in my life and in those whom I thought I’m serving!

Lord, let me acknowledge my inadequacies and humbly allow your love to empower me that I may offer you a great catch, a bountiful harvest, and a truly joyful life. Amen.