Have faith and the storm will become a breeze.

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Homily
12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
First reading
Job 38:1,8-11
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 106(107):23-26,28-32
Second reading
2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Gospel
Mark 4:35-41
It’s hard to believe that just over a week ago, my wife and I were in Canada preparing for our journey back to Ireland. The night before, I had checked-in and had the boarding passes on our phones. The bags were packed and within weight and we felt calm. The following morning, I was abruptly woken to be told our flights had all been cancelled, and we had been put on flights the following day. When I tried to ring through on my own phone, I just got a menu loop and then the call was terminated. My wife got our son’s local phone and managed to get through to a young man in Calgary. She explained cancelling our flights was not acceptable and that we needed to be in Ireland Saturday morning. There was no two ways about it. We were told there were no flights but as we waited, a seat became available on a flight from Calgary to Toronto.
Surprisingly, a few minutes later a second appeared, though not together. All we had to do was get to Calgary and we would be able to make our original connecting flight from Toronto to Dublin. Calgary was a three-and-a-half-hour journey from where we were. We could just about make it, but it would be a stretch to drive. Our flight from Calgary to Toronto was secured.
As we talked about how to get to Calgary, the young man there told us to his surprise there were now two seats on a flight from Edmonton to Calgary. Could we get to Edmonton for that flight? Absolutely, it was forty-five minutes journey, but we had to leave straight away. And we did. There were still a couple of issues, but we were away a few hours earlier than expected.
My wife didn’t know how, but she believed it was possible to get home as originally planned so she could get the rest she needed before starting work on Monday. She trusted Our Lord would find away for us and had no doubt. It would just happen. And it did. Whereas, our journey had been put into complete disarray, by sheer faith and trusting Jesus was present with us, a path was made possible, and we had a calm journey. The early stress had gone.
How often do we find that our plans are turned upside down and it seems impossible that we can achieve what we have set out to do? From my own experiences of everyday life, my plans are continuously disrupted, and it seems impossible to be able to achieve the goals set. However, by not giving up and letting doubts and fears take a grip, if we trust that Our Lord wants us to be in a particular place, we will get there, though the journey maybe quite a surprise.
Under our own steam much is impossible, but God has the authority over every element of this world. He commands the waves and the wind, and they obey, as we heard in psalm 106. The sailors seeing the massive waves thought their souls were lost, and when they cried out in their distress to God, he hushed the waves and turned the gale into a whisper. In Job, we are told that God has set the boundaries of the storms that brew up around us. He is in control.
Jesus demonstrates this in Mark’s Gospel. Though he is rudely awakened from his sleep, the raging storm in the Sea of Galilee is quickly rebuked and all is made calm. He then questions why the disciples were surprised. Why did they still lack faith? Yet they were witnesses to Jesus’s authority to command the elements, and the sea and wind obeyed.
On the horizon, we see a new storm brewing across our world. Alliances are being made that could cast us into another world war. Tensions between China and Taiwan, North Korea and South Korea. Between Russia and NATO, Russia and the United States. The tension is palpable. Yet, the earthly powers have forgotten, they are not in control. They never were. God is. He will have the last word. All he asks is that we turn to him and trust him. Have faith.
Monday 24th June, is the 43rd Anniversary of Our Lady’s Apparitions in Medjugorje. Each night, Our Lady has asked for the Rosary to be said for peace. At 9pm, here in Ireland, if you say the Rosary each night for peace, you will be joining those in Medjugorje in their prayers that Our Heavenly Father will turn the developing hurricane back into a gentle breeze.
All of us, in one form or another, have turned our back on Our Lord. Now is the time to reflect and see how we have lost our faith and ask the Holy Spirit to bridge the gap across the torrid waters, to the safety of home with Our Father. If we can confess our sins, we will be forgiven. Our Lord Jesus sacrificed himself for us on the cross, we just need to believe that he is with us at this troubling time.
And as the Gospel Acclamation asks of us: “May the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our mind. So that we can see what hope his call holds for us. Alleluia.” (Ep1:17,18)