June 20: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading I: Job 38:1, 8-11
Psalm 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31
Reading II: 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

Jesus said to the sea, “Quiet! Be Still!” And the turbulent sea calmed. Jesus’ followers' fears turned to awe, joy, relief, and trust as they realize who has been with them all this time.   

Jesus is with us all the time too. Yet, the storms surge. How we would love Jesus to calm the storms in our lives. Carol showed me where she’d been raped; Kathy fell into my arms in tears two days after she’d been attacked; Karen told me the same horrific tale on the first Sunday I preached at her parish. She had never told anyone but her doctor. Two of the women did not know their attacker. They had something else in common; Carol and Kathy gave birth to beautiful sons nine months later. Imagine the storms in those women’s lives. When Kathy’s son was seven years old I was in their apartment when Tim opened the refrigerator. There was nothing in it.   

Carol, Kathy, and Karen were much like Jesus’ disciples on that boat long ago. They were terrified and begged Jesus to do something. And Jesus calmed the storms.  The women found a faith community, who, rather than being shocked or put off by poverty, embraced the women and children as family. Not only did jobs, childcare, food, furniture, friendship, and fun ease their stress but advocacy for others in similar storms became their mission.   

Another woman told her pastor she could not change her husband’s colostomy bag. She wept as she said, “I did it for my mother; I cannot do it again.”  The pastor said, “I will come; I will pray.” He arrived the next day and said, “I will sit here and pray, silently.” The woman was able to do what her husband needed. The pastor came to pray most days. Jesus calmed the storm of inadequacy for her as he had for Carol, Kathy and Karen.  

Before the pandemic, 31% of children in the USA lived in poverty. Before the pandemic 700,000 children were living in poverty in New York State. That’s 18% of our children. More than 50% of Rochester’s children lived in poverty. Rochester’s children were in worse poverty than children in 32 other states. And since COVID the storms of poverty have increased. What will calm the storm of their hunger?  What will calm the storm of the lack of nutrients their brains and bodies need?   

Thomas Awiapo works for Catholic Relief Services. When he was about six years old he was completely alone. No parents, no siblings, no one cared for him.  He heard that food was being given at a school. So he went to the school for food and was welcomed. The Jesuit school fed him more than food and he blossomed.  His witness of gratitude is like that of the people described in today’s psalm. They gave thanks to God for everlasting love; God “hushed the storm to a gentle breeze.  They rejoiced that they were calmed, and he brought them to their desired haven.”  

Carol, Kathy, and Karen’s parish and Thomas’ school give the world models of sanctity through which Jesus calms storms. And whoever assesses needs and designs, supports, and implements programs such SNAP and WIC cooperate with Jesus’ Spirit calming storms near and far. Foodlink, Perinton Food Shelf, Racial and Structural Equity Commission, and The Child Poverty Reduction Act may calm storms so appalling we shudder until our empathy becomes compassion. 

Immigrants drowned off the coast of Tunisia and Yemen recently. The refugee crisis before the pandemic was astronomical, the worst since during World War II. Since COVID the crisis has nearly doubled. And still, people trying to escape violence and drought overcrowd boats in hopes of safety. May we cry out with all who are terrified today. May our collective cry compel governments to unite in compassion to calm their fears.  

St Paul in today’s letter to the Corinthians begins with “The love of Christ impels us.”  Paul said this to people who were sure that Christ’s self-giving revealed the fullness and depth of God’s love for them.  This belief made them a new creation, a vibrant community whose faith deepened the more they watched and listened to Jesus. May our watching and listening to Jesus free us to call upon him to calm troubled waters.   

by Deni Mack, DMin, Pastoral Associate Emerita