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Scripture Reflection, June 23, 2024, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Bill Miller

Job 38:1, 8-11 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 Mark 4:35-41


We come to church every Sunday and experience the liturgy. The music is uplifting, the ambience is lovely,( liturgists call that “the environment”) and, maybe, we go home thinking that is what prayer is always supposed to look like. Sometimes… prayer looks different. And today’s gospel gives us a great example.

The disciples are in a boat with Jesus when “a violent squall comes up.” The scripture tells us “waves were breaking over the boat so that it was already filling up.” Meanwhile, Jesus was asleep on a cushion in the stern!

What follows reminds me of the classic image of the New Yorker shouting after a motorist, "Hey! I'm walkin’ here!“ The disciples awaken Jesus with something like, "Hey! We're drownin’ here!”

Panic will do that to you…panic, feeling overwhelmed. You cut to the chase! You leave flowery words unspoken and pour out your grief and fear. And I believe today's gospel gives us permission to do just that with God. Jesus responds to his frightened friends. He assures them that he is bigger than the forces of nature that assail them. And they are not alone.

Real life is more than beautiful music and ambience. Sometimes life asks us to weather storms. At those times it is good for us to trust God enough to share our fears and anxieties, confident that God can handle it.

So if someday you find yourself sitting alone in the car before you go into the house or sitting up at night in the recliner alone in a semi -dark room painfully feeling overwhelmed by grief, or fear or loss, know that God doesn't want to wait to hear from you until you feel more “prayerful”. Our loving God says, “Tell me how you feel… how you really, really feel.” It's okay to respond with “Hey, I'm drownin’ here!” And let God take it from there.

by: Pat Schnee

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