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.

1. The question of Jesus’ identity appears repeatedly in Mark. When the disciples suddenly show a lack of trust in God’s power working through Jesus and even accuse Jesus of not caring, readers are challenged to examine their own faith. Merely repeating the confession that Jesus is Son of God means little if Jesus does not represent God for us. A suspicion that God does not really care what happens to us will corrode our religious life. The results of such sentiments in daily life are familiar. Human relationships die when we sense that others do not care what happens to us.
2. Doubts about God also emerge in times of crisis. Mark’s readers were familiar with the destructive effects of persecution. The weaknesses exhibited by Jesus’ disciples encourage later believers to persist despite doubts about God’s saving presence. In the end, they will discover the one whom the wind and sea obey.
3. When the disciples say to Jesus, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” their panic separates them from Jesus. How can he not care? He is in the boat with them! Jesus does not react to their panic. He speaks first to the raging elements, the wind and sea. Then he asks his stunned disciples about their faith. On the human level, we often act like the disciples. We expect others to share our panic or distress. If they seem detached from the situation, we accuse them of not caring about our suffering. Panic reactions can divide us from others who might help just as they can cause us to doubt God’s love for us.

Image credit: Christ stilling the storm on the Sea of Galilee | Ludolf Bakhuizen | 1695 | Indianapolis Museum of Art | PD