Father Leo Hausmann
Homily from the Televised Mass, NewsCenter1
The 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, June 23, 2024

Storms and the role of God in calming the storms of life is the central theme of the first reading and the Gospel today. The first reading tells us how the Lord speaks to Job whose life was devastated by storms, of the total loss of his possessions, the deaths of his dear ones, and the whole-body disease that left him in misery. “Out of the storm,” God reminds Job that He is in control.

God addresses Job, questioning his right to challenge God’s authority and leading Job deeper and deeper into the mystery of creation. God tells Job that He is the Creator, the Lord of the sea and the waters, and only He can control the wind and the sea and the other elements. “I set limits for the sea and fastened the bar of its door,” God said to Job.

This statement of God reminds us of God’s words in the Book of Genesis in creating the world: “Then God said: Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin and the dry land appeared. God called the dry land earth, and the basin of water he called sea. God saw that it was good.”

The God who created the world from nothing and gave it form and beauty, and calls us to trust Him in the storms of our lives, even when our lives seem out of control. Like the sea, which God has set limits, He has set limits to the trials we encounter in life. Grace, if we use it, gives us the strength we need to overcome every temptation or trial in life. God’s grace is sufficient!

The second reading explains that Jesus died for us to make of us a new creation. New creation once again calls our minds back to the creation story in the Book of Genesis. What God originally created, and he pronounced to be good, was damaged and disordered by sin entering into the world. Jesus, by his redemptive death and resurrection, has brought about a new creation. To receive Jesus’ gift of new life and love, we have to respond with our own loving self-surrender, living for Jesus in all situations of our lives. In other words, Paul celebrates the saving significance of the Paschal mystery – Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection – and our participation in it.

Today’s Gospel describes how, by a commanding word, Jesus stilled a storm upon the Sea of Galilee, returned the sea to its natural order and saved the apostles from drowning. The incident reminds us to keep Jesus in our life’s boat and to seek Jesus’ help in the storms of life.

Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat while the storm raged and the boat was taking on water. When the panicked disciples wake Jesus, he chides them, asking, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

This Gospel miracle story asks us to consider two questions. First, who is Jesus? And second, will you trust this Jesus?

At this early point in the disciple’s faith journey, they have not yet come to know Jesus’ true identity as the divine Son of God and to trust in his power, as well as Jesus’ love and care for them in situations they themselves cannot control. They panic, overwhelmed by fear, doubt and insecurity on this stormy voyage.  Jesus stills the storm as if exercising a demon in much the same way as we see in many of Mark’s miracle stories.

That is the whole point of the story: nothing can harm the disciples while Jesus was with them. Many people have found great comfort in sensing Jesus’ constant presence in the most difficult and dangerous crises. Do you? No matter what we are experiencing, we can — with the help of Jesus — find peace. It is the peace which only Jesus can give. And it is a peace which no person, no thing, no situation can take away from us.

In the Gardiner Museum in Boston there is a painting by Rembrandt entitled “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.” It is Rembrandt’s interpretation of this scene. It shows panic etched on the faces of the disciples, as their small vessel is being raised up on a high wave, about to be crashed down. Two of the disciples are attempting to rouse Jesus who is asleep in the stern of the boat. But if you look more closely, you will discover that there is something that is not quite right. There are too many people in the picture. So, you count them. There are fourteen. There should be only be thirteen — twelve disciples and Jesus. But instead, there are fourteen. It is then that you notice that one of the men in the boat is Rembrandt. He has painted himself into the picture. He has placed himself in the same boat which is precisely what we should do. It is the way that we are supposed to interpret this passage.

The fact is, there is no safer place to be than with Jesus. And if we are enduring a storm in our life, that is where Jesus is, right there with us, along with us, as we weather the storm in faith.