This coming Sunday is the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The scripture scholar Pheme Perkins raises some great points for reflection [581]. The long-ago story of the disciples’ experience of tribulation and suffering have lessons for us in this age. She asks questions about how we react to such times, especially in the way the times shape our thoughts about God – even if only temporarily. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Meanwhile in the gospel account: 38 Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  39 He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm.

It is such a sparse telling of the story that it is not hard to imagine Jesus awaking, being somewhat chagrined (a good night’s sleep is hard to come by), glancing at the storm, wondering what all the commotion is about, and directing the sea to “Quiet! Be still!” (literally: “be muzzled”) As suddenly as the storm had come it had subsided, subdued by Jesus’ sovereign command. Continue reading →