The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us to meditate on our experience of peace in our relationship with Christ.
Peace and joy
The reading from the Book of Job describes how the Lord answers Job.
* [38:1] Now the Lord enters the debate and addresses two discourses (chaps. 38–39 and 40–41) to Job, speaking of divine wisdom and power. Such things are altogether beyond the capacity of Job. Out of the storm: frequently the background of the appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament; cf. Ps 18; 50; Na 1:3; Hb 3:2–15.1
Psalm 107 is a thanksgiving for deliverance from many troubles.
* [Psalm 107] A hymn inviting those who have been rescued by God to give praise (Ps 107:1–3). Four archetypal divine rescues are described, each ending in thanksgiving: from the sterile desert (Ps 107:4–9), from imprisonment in gloom (Ps 107:10–16), from mortal illness (Ps 107:17–22), and from the angry sea (Ps 107:23–32). The number four connotes totality, all the possible varieties of rescue. The same saving activity of God is shown in Israel’s history (Ps 107:33–41); whenever the people were endangered God rescued them. The last verses invite people to ponder the persistent saving acts of God (Ps 107:42–43).2
The reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians declares there is a new creation.
* [5:16–17] Consequently: the death of Christ described in 2 Cor 5:14–15 produces a whole new order (2 Cor 5:17) and a new mode of perception (2 Cor 5:16). According to the flesh: the natural mode of perception, characterized as “fleshly,” is replaced by a mode of perception proper to the Spirit. Elsewhere Paul contrasts what Christ looks like according to the old criteria (weakness, powerlessness, folly, death) and according to the new (wisdom, power, life); cf. 2 Cor 5:15, 21; 1 Cor 1:17–3:3. Similarly, he describes the paradoxical nature of Christian existence, e.g., in 2 Cor 4:10–11, 14. A new creation: rabbis used this expression to describe the effect of the entrance of a proselyte or convert into Judaism or of the remission of sins on the Day of Atonement. The new order created in Christ is the new covenant (2 Cor 3:6).3
In the Gospel of Mark Jesus calms a storm.
* [4:41] Jesus is here depicted as exercising power over wind and sea. In the Christian community this event was seen as a sign of Jesus’ saving presence amid persecutions that threatened its existence.4
Tamora Whitney notes that in the first reading and the Gospel there are storms, and the storms are calmed by the power of the Lord.
Bad weather is not the only storm we encounter in life. We have to weather all kinds of storms in our lives. There’s illness, loss of loved ones, and actual storm damage. Things don’t always go the way we would like them to, but Jesus is there with us, through the good and the bad, calming the winds and helping us through.5
Don Schwager quotes “Awakening the Christ asleep within you,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"When you have to listen to abuse, that means you are being buffeted by the wind. When your anger is roused, you are being tossed by the waves. So when the winds blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger, your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted, you long to retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of misfortune - shipwreck. Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten his presence. Rouse him, then; remember him, let him keep watch within you, pay heed to him... A temptation arises: it is the wind. It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the moment to awaken Christ and let him remind you of those words: 'Who can this be? Even the winds and the sea obey him." (excerpt from Sermons 63:1-3)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Job 38:1, 8-11 comments that the disciples learned a lesson that day similar to the one God taught Job. When we rely only on our own strength or understanding, we human beings can do only so much, but Jesus’ power is limitless.
Does that mean every storm we face will be calmed? Not necessarily. Sometimes Jesus calms the storms and sometimes he calms us. Either way, we can rely on the fact that this all-powerful God is right there “in the boat” with us. And that can give us peace and help us through the hard times. “Jesus, I trust that you are with me. May that knowledge give me peace no matter what storms I face.”7
Friar Jude Winkler notes that when God answers Job’s questions, He asks more questions. We don’t understand what we don’t understand. The sea was thought to be a reservoir of evil in Jesus time. Friar Jude reminds us that as new creations we need to see the brokenness of people around us with Jesus eyes.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that these three components—Scripture, Tradition, and experience—make up the three wheels of what the CAC calls the learning “tricycle” of spiritual growth. [1]
Jesus and Paul clearly use and build on their own Jewish Scriptures and Tradition, yet they both courageously interpret them through the lens of their own unique personal experience of God. This is undeniable! We would do well to follow their examples. I will admit that the experiences we have of God—and of our own lives and desires—can be confusing and sometimes even contradictory to one another. This is why it is so helpful to have someone to walk with us as we uncover the deeper meaning of our experiences and what they might reveal to us about God and ourselves.8
Our experiences of the Divine on our journey are a foundation for our spiritual growth as new creatures in Christ.
References
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