Homily 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B I 23 June 2024 I Homily 23 June 2024 Year B

 

My dear friends today we celebrate the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. The first reading taken from the book of Job presents before us a very puzzling narrative – God’s reply to Job. Job as we know was an upright and pious person, who loses everything as Satan tries to prove that Job’s piety has ulterior motives. In his lament, Job questions both the order of the cosmos and the existence of divine justice because he did not deserve any of the tragedies  he faced. The LORD responds by questioning Job’s knowledge of God’s mysteries and purposes. Though we find God being described as “a divine architect of the cosmos” in ancient literature, in the book of Job, Yahweh is imagined as a midwife, helping the sea to be born, quickly making clothes for it out of the clouds and swaddling it in the deep, beautiful colours of the night sky. While this image conveys that God has power over natural elements it also has a deeper significance.

In ancient Near Eastern literature, the sea was often pictured as a chaotic monster who threatened the stability and order of the cosmos. Therefore, the sea was something to be afraid of, something that caused chaos in life. However, Yahweh, instead of destroying the source of chaos is giving birth to it and nurturing it. Now why would God do that? Well, there is no easy way to answer this question, but what helps is to ask ourselves– what is chaos for me, is it also chaos for everyone else? As a wise person once said, when we look at the food chain, one animal consumes another, from the smallest of cells to the largest of creatures. There is disorder, destruction, killing – there is chaos. Yet, it is this same chaos that is also what keeps order. So in a way, chaos exists as a part of God’s creation. The seeming unpredictability of life is not evil, nor is it proof of God’s failures. Rather, it points to the fact that life demands change and change demands chaos. For a plant to grow, a seed must die; for a new season to begin, the old must end. Chaos seen in this perspective is a necessity of life itself. 

So while God does not directly answer Job’s questions, He helps him gain a new perspective in which his grief is not the ultimate reality. There is a still greater reality of which we are all a part of. God’s revelation to Job and us is that the universe is far bigger, stranger, and more mysterious than we can imagine. We realize that there is a big gap between divine and human knowledge. Therefore, a relationship of trust with God is more important than answers to our question of “Why?” Job’s deeper need was to know that God had not abandoned him, and that God still cared for him. Sometimes when we suffer, that hug from a loved one is all we need.

In the second reading taken from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians,  Paul talks about Christ’s love for us. He explains why he and others went to such great lengths, and suffered so much persecution and hardship, to proclaim the gospel. Once we experience the love of Christ, it is not possible to continue living our old lives. Those who are touched by Jesus’ sacrifice are not able to live a selfish life anymore. They devote their lives to Jesus in love and service. Paul no longer regards others “from the human point of view” or “according to the flesh.” In the New Testament, sarx or flesh is used to view by worldly standards – by wealth, physical beauty, political influence or power.  Paul now regards people from a different perspective – the spiritual perspective. One reason for this change is that he has become aware that worldly things are temporary. Christ has come to point us to eternal values and to offer us eternal life. We also come across the phrase, “in Christ”. Being “in Christ” involves an all-encompassing relationship with Christ Jesus – a relationship that has saving transformative power. 

The theme of a ‘new creation’ is found in the Old Testament, in the writings of the prophets and it is carried forward into the New Testament. Christ makes all things new (Revelation 21:5). Those who have placed their faith in him are already redeemed. We are now a new and different people.  No one reaches sinless perfection in this life, but the redeemed Christian is made holy day by day. We have to choose a life with Jesus, over death away from Jesus.

In the gospel taken from Mark, we see the theme of chaos continuing. In the narrative of Jesus stilling the storm, we hear a lament from the disciples that resonates with the lament of Job. They cry out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Like Job, theirs is a cry of fear, doubt and abandonment. Jesus says to the disciples: "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" Jesus does not criticize the disciples for fearing the storm rather he admonishes them for thinking that the demonic forces of the seas were more powerful than He. The central message of the passage is that Jesus is God in the flesh who has power over the wind and the waves.

In our day-to-day lives, we are nothing different from Job or the disciples in the boat. We live in a world filled with fear and chaos and we are trying to bring order into our lives and in the world around us. However, things like natural disasters, economic slowdowns, accidents, sickness and death are aspects of life not under our control. Insecurity leads to fear and that leads us to try and control more and more things in our life. It’s a kind of vicious circle that takes us farther and farther from God. What are we called to do then? We could continue to live in our world of fear and chaos, seeing ourselves all alone in the boat having to face the storms of life all by ourselves or we can take courage from the fact that Jesus is always in our boat, He is always with us. Through every danger and challenge, He does not let us face the storm alone. He is with us, helping us go through the fears and chaos of life. All we need to do is trust Him and surrender to Him and rest assured He will shield us through all the storms of our lives.

I pray that each one of us grows in faith and love of Jesus, who alone can make sense of the chaos in our lives. May God bless us all.