Homily on the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 20, 2021
« Lord, do you not care? »
The Lord talks to Job in the storm, as He does to the disciples of Jesus. Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?, the disciples ask Him. The Lord does not seem to worry very much, sleeping on a cushion in the middle of a storm. The apostles are afraid where Jesus is sound asleep.
The storm may appear in various forms in our lives as well. It can be an interior storm of our minds or exterior circumstances that worry us. There are these occasions that we worry, and they can be objective. Think about the circles where we work, difficulties keeping our job, illnesses of various types, colleagues or members of the family that do not understand us well or vice versa. Even societies can turn against each other. Societies can turn against Christians, and start persecuting them, though that is probably not our case. But storm is a reality and we wonder if the Lord has forgotten us. Did He forget about us? If God exists, why do these bad things happen?
Listen to the answer God gives in his conversation with Job: where were you when I created the earth? And: why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?
The key to understand our suffering is here. It is not a matter of absence of the Lord or his losing control. We have only a partial view on reality where God has the overview. God keeps on speaking to us. Let us not be afraid but have faith, with the words of Jesus. So, why not read the book of Job this summer and discover how our prayer can be in times of difficulty?
In that way we too can make the discovery “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” And we after that we will add the shortest of all prayers: Jesus, I trust in Thee!