Gospel Meditation

June 20, 2021
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

As we look at our lives and world events, do we ever find ourselves wondering if God is sleeping? After all, maybe God’s patient, unconditional love has run its course and He is finally fed up with humanity’s reluctance to accept the truth about who we are. God really can’t be that patient! All throughout human history, many have prayed to God for intervention or for particular needs. Because their prayers were not answered in the way they wanted or anticipated, they felt that God may have abandoned them. Were they right? It seems that we are continuing, at a rapid rate, down a path of destruction. Do you not care, God, that we may be perishing? When the boats of our lives are rocking and the seas tumultuous, we want to know that we have God’s attention. Even more so, we want God’s intervention.

Maybe the storms and the waves are necessary. If we listen, they can teach us valuable lessons. Without them, we would never learn that we have the strength to endure, understand the uselessness of fear and worry, or develop the ability to really trust. If God immediately rushed in and simply calmed things down before they got difficult, what good would that really be? We would miss opportunities to learn how to drink more deeply of life, treasure its complexity, irony, and beauty and fully engage ourselves in surrendering to the love of our Creator. It is easy to walk on the surface of life without immersing ourselves in its messiness. Life has to burn its way through us in order to bring us to a place of secure trust. It’s unfortunate that some prefer a shallower journey.

That’s the balancing act that comes with faith. It is not God’s job to prevent us from encountering the torrential rains and winds of life. Many believe that if faith is done the right way, that God will provide for smooth sailing.  That’s not how it works.  God permits us to ride out the difficult stuff knowing that the storm will eventually be calmed. Do we not have faith that God will do this? True faith trusts in the steadfastness of God’s love when the seas are calm and when they are choppy. God’s unconditional loving presence shines through all of it and endures forever. Knowing this allows us to put our boats out into unchartered waters without hesitation.  Knowing that we prefer the comfort and safety of what we know to be still waters, how do we feel when Jesus says, “Let us cross to the other side”?

©LPi

MEDITACIÓN EVANGÉLICO (Gospel Meditation)

20 de junio 2021
12º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

Cuantas veces, en medio de las tormentas de la vida, nos hemos preguntado: ¿Dónde está Dios? ¿Acaso está dormido? ¿Por qué no acude a nuestro auxilio? Sin embargo, Dios está ahí entre nosotros, en medio de la tormenta, en medio de la pandemia. ¿Dónde estás Jesús que no te veo, que no te siento? Le preguntamos, muchas veces desesperados y ya sin aliento. ¡Escúchanos Señor, no nos abandones! Para comprender cómo actúa Dios, debemos meditar y reflexionar en su Palabra. Escuchemos lo que narra el Evangelio de hoy.

“Al atardecer de aquel mismo día, Jesús dijo a sus discípulos: ‘Crucemos a la otra orilla del lago’. Despidieron a la gente y lo llevaron en la barca en que estaba… de pronto, se levantó un gran temporal y las olas se estrellaban contra la barca, que se iba llenando de agua. Mientras tanto Jesús dormía en la popa sobre un cojín. Lo despertaron diciendo: Maestro, ¿no te importa que nos hundamos? Él entonces se despertó. Se encaró con el viento y dijo al mar: ‘Cállate, cálmate’. El viento se apaciguo y siguió una gran calma. Después dijo: ‘¿Por qué son tan miedosos? ¿Todavía no tienen fe?’”  (Marcos 4:35-40). El miedo paraliza, el miedo hunde y destruye muchos planes y buenas acciones. En el caso de los discípulos, el miedo pudo haberse superado con confianza en la presencia de Jesús, aunque estuviera durmiendo. Ahora bien, en los casos actuales cabe la pregunta. ¿Cómo supero las dificultades? ¿Vence el miedo o la confianza y fe en Dios? La respuesta debe salir del fondo del corazón y es muy personal.

©LPi