READING OF THE DAY First reading from the Book of Job Jb 38:1, 8-11
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands? When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door, and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!
R. (1b) Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
23 They who sailed the sea in ships, trading on the deep waters, 24 These saw the works of the LORD and his wonders in the abyss. R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
25 His command raised up a storm wind which tossed its waves on high. 26 They mounted up to heaven; they sank to the depths; their hearts melted away in their plight. R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
Second reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 2 Cor 5:14-17
Brothers and sisters: The love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died. He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Mark Mk 4:35-41
On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. 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?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith”? Faith begins when we realise we are in need of salvation. We are not self-sufficient; by ourselves we founder: we need the Lord, like ancient navigators needed the stars. Let us invite Jesus into the boats of our lives. Let us hand over our fears to him so that he can conquer them. Like the disciples, we will experience that with him on board there will be no shipwreck. Because this is God’s strength: turning to the good everything that happens to us, even the bad things. He brings serenity into our storms, because with God life never dies. (Extraordinary moment of Prayer during pandemic, 27 March 2020)
FAUSTI - "Why are you so frightened? Have You still no Faith?" Jesus asks His own. They have heard His Word. But have they received it as it really is, as the Word of God working in him who believes? (1Th 2:13). Dominated by their own thoughts and fears, they do not yet have faith. They do not have the courage to go deep with Him. Baptism is to be associated with Him, in His death and in His Resurrection. This narrative is a baptismal exercise to see if the Word has produced His fruit: the confidence to surrender one's life with Him sleeping and awakening. On the same day of the ''parables'' the disciples fail the test. But the experiment is not in vain; it brings out the difficulties of their hearts, which are late and slow to believe. The Word will have to enter into all their fears. But first it has to highlight them, or rather arouse them, bring them out into the open, in order to overcome them. It is night, on the stormy sea Jesus sleeps peacefully. His own, who are with Him, in His own difficulties, cry out in anguish. They do not understand this sleep, image of His abandonment to death. By sleeping, He realizes the trust expressed in the parables. The disciples, on the contrary, are at the mercy of despair. The Word, which fell on the path, did not take root. It entered superficially, but underneath there is the stone of their heart, which prevents them from trusting in the Lord. This distrust can be dissolved only when the question is answered: "Who is This One?" The apparent inaction of His sleep is the greatest action on our behalf . He sleeps to be with us even in the dark valley . And it is precisely here that He rises with all the Power of JHWH, calming every storm , even the storm of our heart.
Jesus is represented to us in His profound mystery: at night, while He sleeps He is the scattered seed, the hidden Light, the automatic strength of the Kingdom, the littleness of the grain of mustard seed. But the seed germinates by dying, the light shines in the darkness, the strength wins with calm, the smallness becomes a great tree. We will see this only when He awakens. The disciples ask themselves : "Who can This Be? that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" This is the fundamental question of the Gospel. The disciple is the one who , after listening to the Word, entrusts himself to Jesus who sleeps, beyond His own fears. On His Word he accepts to go into the deep with Him - the alternative is to go into the deep without Him! - in the hope of emerging with Him to new life.
READING OF THE DAY
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of Job
Jb 38:1, 8-11
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said:
Who shut within doors the sea,
when it burst forth from the womb;
when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
When I set limits for it
and fastened the bar of its door,
and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stilled!
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31
R. (1b) Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
23 They who sailed the sea in ships,
trading on the deep waters,
24 These saw the works of the LORD
and his wonders in the abyss.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
25 His command raised up a storm wind
which tossed its waves on high.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they sank to the depths;
their hearts melted away in their plight.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.
Second reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians
2 Cor 5:14-17
Brothers and sisters:
The love of Christ impels us,
once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;
therefore, all have died.
He indeed died for all,
so that those who live might no longer live for themselves
but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;
even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,
yet now we know him so no longer.
So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Mark
Mk 4:35-41
On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
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?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER
RispondiElimina“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith”? Faith begins when we realise we are in need of salvation. We are not self-sufficient; by ourselves we founder: we need the Lord, like ancient navigators needed the stars. Let us invite Jesus into the boats of our lives. Let us hand over our fears to him so that he can conquer them. Like the disciples, we will experience that with him on board there will be no shipwreck. Because this is God’s strength: turning to the good everything that happens to us, even the bad things. He brings serenity into our storms, because with God life never dies. (Extraordinary moment of Prayer during pandemic, 27 March 2020)
FAUSTI - "Why are you so frightened? Have You still no Faith?" Jesus asks His own. They have heard His Word. But have they received it as it really is, as the Word of God working in him who believes? (1Th 2:13).
RispondiEliminaDominated by their own thoughts and fears, they do not yet have faith. They do not have the courage to go deep with Him. Baptism is to be associated with Him, in His death and in His Resurrection.
This narrative is a baptismal exercise to see if the Word has produced His fruit:
the confidence to surrender one's life with Him sleeping and awakening.
On the same day of the ''parables'' the disciples fail the test.
But the experiment is not in vain; it brings out the difficulties of their hearts, which are late and slow to believe.
The Word will have to enter into all their fears.
But first it has to highlight them, or rather arouse them, bring them out into the open, in order to overcome them.
It is night, on the stormy sea Jesus sleeps peacefully. His own, who are with Him, in His own difficulties, cry out in anguish. They do not understand this sleep, image of His abandonment to death. By sleeping, He realizes the trust expressed in the parables.
The disciples, on the contrary, are at the mercy of despair.
The Word, which fell on the path, did not take root. It entered superficially, but underneath there is the stone of their heart, which prevents them from trusting in the Lord.
This distrust can be dissolved only when the question is answered: "Who is This One?"
The apparent inaction of His sleep is the greatest action on our behalf .
He sleeps to be with us even in the dark valley . And it is precisely here that He rises with all the Power of JHWH, calming every storm , even the storm of our heart.
Jesus is represented to us in His profound mystery: at night, while He sleeps He is the scattered seed, the hidden Light, the automatic strength of the Kingdom, the littleness of the grain of mustard seed.
But the seed germinates by dying, the light shines in the darkness, the strength wins with calm, the smallness becomes a great tree. We will see this only when He awakens.
The disciples ask themselves : "Who can This Be? that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"
This is the fundamental question of the Gospel.
The disciple is the one who , after listening to the Word, entrusts himself to Jesus who sleeps, beyond His own fears. On His Word he accepts to go into the deep with Him - the alternative is to go into the deep without Him! - in the hope of emerging with Him to new life.