The most important thing that the Lord expects of us when we
sin is true conversion. We can say all the sorry/s we like but if it's not
coupled with a transformation of our hearts then we are no better than the
snakes that shed off their skin but come out the same. We've got to be like
those caterpillars after shedding off their chrysalis or silk coverings emerges
into a beautiful butterfly. Just like in today's 1st reading when David asked
God for forgiveness, truly repented and mend his ways. Amen. Hallelujah!
2 Samuel 12:1-7a, 10-17
...Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the
LORD.” Nathan answered David, “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin you
shall not die.14 But since you have utterly spurned the LORD by this deed, the
child born to you must surely die.” 15 Then Nathan returned to his house. The
LORD struck the child that the wife of Uriah had borne to David, and it became
desperately ill. 16 David besought God for the child. He kept a fast, retiring
for the night to lie on the ground clothed in sackcloth. 17 The elders of his
house stood beside him urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not,
nor would he take food with them.
Today's psalm is a song that I have come to know and sing by
heart without the aid of a song book. I always love to sing it and hear it
being sung most especially by the choir during mass. It is well for us to not
just love to sing it with our voices but with the sincerity of our hearts.
Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm 51:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
R: Create a clean heart in me, O God.
10 [12] A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast
spirit renew within me. 11 [13] Cast me not out from your presence, and your
Holy Spirit take not from me. (R) 12 [14] Give me back the joy of your
salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. 13 [15] I will teach
transgressors your ways, and sinners shall return to you. (R) 14 [16] Free me
from blood guilt, O God, my saving God; then my tongue shall revel in your
justice. 15 [17] O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your
praise.
The Sea of Galilee has taken on a deeper meaning in my life
way back in 2007 when I decided to come here to the US . In Mt. 4: 18 the sea of Galilee
is where Jesus' call to the first disciples took place. It is good to recall
and look back where our own Galilees are. I can still remember very well my own
Sea of Galilee and should always keep in mind
and never forget. As we gather all our strength and courage we, too like the
disciples should never turn back and go forth to our own Galilees. I could
still recall the bible story in Luke 5 entitled, "The call of Simon (later
on named Peter) the Fisherman." It was way back in Feb. 4, 2007, during
those times when I was discerning and weighing my decision to come here to the US with my
friend Joy. This gospel reading from Luke specifically caught my attention,
confirmed and gave me confidence in what I was planning to do and eventually
did. Just like Peter who was skeptical at that time I was also feeling so
unsure about my decisions then and this phrase really had a great impact on me
back then coupled with the priest's homily that went with it. That was like
more than 4 years ago now. I feel like God is reminding me again of that scene
at the Sea of Galilee (also known as the Sea of Gennesaret Sea of Galilee is the place where
Jesus chose His Apostles and also where the apostles immediately left
everything and followed Jesus (Luke 5:10-11). Which reminds me too of that song
entitled, "Lord, you have come"
The background setting of this song is biblically based on the gospel
stories of the call of Jesus to Peter and the apostles at the Sea
of Galilee . It held a
special and deep meaning that touched my heart in an unexplainable way owing to
the occasions and incidences that were connected and related to it. But I
believe God in His awesome and almighty wisdom, intelligence and knowledge
reveals things in stages for the benefit of our limited capacities and
understanding. The series of events and daily readings became an eye opener and
has given me a better understanding of all the things that have happened since.
I realized it is always good to look back, recall and never forget those times
in our lives when Jesus was calling us for a certain task and decided to follow
and obey. As I develop in myself a broader understanding of the Call at the Sea of Galilee I also realized the need to go across it
and experience a higher level of union with God. In the gospel of Luke back
then, the situation was different since the Sea of Galilee in that given bible
passage was very reassuring since it gave an impression of peace and calm which
was very conformed to my situation back in the Philippines before I left for
the US. When I finally arrived here in the US and experience life away from my
loved ones and encountering the challenges I now face I was able to relate to
that gospel in Mark 4:35-41 also at the Sea of Galilee when the disciples were
faced by a violent squall and big waves filling up the boat to the brink of
causing it to sink. Very much unlike the gospel in Luke when Peter having obeyed
and followed to put out into the deep water was rewarded with a miracle, Lk.
5:6-8 “... when they caught a great number of fish and their nets were
tearing... and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking.”
Immediately upon arriving the US I was also greeted with a lot of pleasant
surprises like passing the NCLEX-RN, getting a hospital petitioner, being able
to travel to the East Coast (New York, Michigan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, Chicago, Washington DC) for free and winning the grand prize in the
Nurse Expo. All these experiences of the disciples in the Sea of Galilee I have
noticed that I can personally relate to especially in the manner of the
sequence I have encountered them. In both occasions, the disciples having followed
and obeyed Jesus in both gospels of Luke and Mark came to this scenario or
condition of their boats both in danger of sinking. Although both happened in
the Sea of Galilee, as I look at my own life the gospel in Luke which I
encountered before I left the Philippines reflected the positive and confirming
things that were happening back then
just as the disciples having followed and obeyed Jesus' specifically the bible
passages at the Sea of Galilee in Luke 5:4-6 "Jesus said to Peter,
"Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said
in reply, "Master we have worked hard all night and caught nothing but at your command I will lower the
nets." When they had done this they caught a great number of fish their
nets were tearing." On the other hand the gospel in Mark which I have
encountered now that I am already here in the US reflects the trials and
difficulties which I can relate to the disciples response to the bidding of
Jesus to cross to the other side were greeted by a not so pleasant surprise
with a violent squall to the point where the boat was already filled up with
water and in the brink of sinking. After having made those decisions in 2007
which eventually brought me to my present situation here in the US, I must say
I can somehow relate to how the disciples felt back then. It made me realize
that I have also come to a point in my sailing with Jesus in my very personal
Sea of Galilee when I have also witnessed violent squalls in my life here in
the US and been brought to situations to the point of sinking but have been
constantly assured of God's tremendous power. I have witnessed Him pacify the
turbulent winds in my life which have left me with a great calm in the midst of
the storm. It is cited that Jesus went
across the Sea of Galilee in today's
gospel which reflects the need to go beyond this call of Jesus at the seashore
of Galilee. In the same way we are called to respond in our own personal way to
Jesus by carefully looking at our own lives as we go through a series of stages
and discover the various experiences we had which led us to accepting His call
at our own Sea of Galilee, sail with Him across it, not be afraid of the storm
that assail us, and even go up with Him to the mountain and witness the amazing
and wonderful miracle that only Jesus can give. We should be able to look at
the scriptures in different levels and senses. We can say that St. Mark with
regards to today's gospel is speaking to us a historical event which did happen
at the time of Jesus. Squalls are common in the Sea of Galilee because of the
mountains that surround it. It is known for its violent storms, which can come
up suddenly and be life-threatening for any on its waters. These tempests are
caused by the situation of the lake in the Jordan Rift with steep hills on all
sides. The cooler air masses from the surrounding mountains collide with the
warm air in the lake’s basin. Winds sometimes funnel through the
east-west-oriented valleys in the Galilean hill country and rush down the
western hillsides of the lake. The most violent storms, however, are caused by
the fierce winds which blow off the Golan Heights from the east. If we are to
look in the spiritual sense we are invited to stand in awe and wonder at who is
this as spoken of by the disciples in the gospel. He is the mighty God who has
in his hands the very depths of the earth. He is God. He said, "Quiet and
be still!" These are the same words he commanded to the evil spirit in
Mark 1:25, Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!" This
is the same command to the destructive power of the storm which is equal to the
power of evil to the soul. Unexpected storms that come out of nowhere can be
compared to the evil in the heart of man. We all know the destruction brought
about by tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes. We look at that and see the
absolute devastation and helplessness that people experience. No one can
control it. The weatherman would warn the people to just run. We leave and get
out of there. We evacuate lest we be destroyed in the presence of the act of
nature. We treat the devil in the same way because that’s the power he has here
on earth. This is what happens at the level of our souls, it has devastating
effects. What does the spiritual weatherman say to us? Run for shelter, get out
of there, get away from temptation and stay close to the Lord. How can we look
at this in the spiritual sense? It’s like we too are on cold waters and out of
nowhere there’s this something that causes destruction and violence in our
lives. We can identify it in our interior lives. It comes over us and we cry
out for help. There are moments when we say we can’t take it anymore, we’re
going down, and all we can do is cry out. We sometimes have this feeling that
God does not recognize what’s happening to us. We sometimes ask if God can
possibly be asleep. Or does He realize what’s happening. When I have decided to
leave the confines of my home country the Philippines and embark on this
journey away from the security that I have been for so long a time been
accustomed and used to, I did not fully realize that the challenges or storms
in my life would bring me to new heights and depths in my personal relationship
with God. It made all the difference knowing that Jesus is in the boat with us.
God has authority over all creation. We need to recognize who He is. Jesus is
there to help us so we don’t perish. God has the power to bring peace in the
midst of the chaos in our lives. We have to recognize that He is present in our
lives or in our boat. We belong to Him. We always pray the Lord’s prayer that
Jesus Himself taught us. We say, “Deliver us from every evil and grant us
peace.” We’re the disciples of the Lord in this boat of life. We receive a
sense of peace that can only come from God. He is the God of the universe and
has the power to protect us from all anxiety and bring us this profound peace.
Jesus is teaching us
to continue trusting and believing that all kinds of storm that are tormenting
us and will still come our way are just background effects and all we have to
do is focus on the main scene which is Jesus is God, He is in charge and always
in control. There is no reason to be terrified if we have faith in God. God
does not stop in filling us all with great awe knowing that He is a God whom
even the wind and sea obey. God never stops in giving us the inspiration to
keep on going and continue the good work He has done for all of us
Amen. Hallelujah!
Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his
disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they took
Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 A
violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was
already filling up. 38 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?” 39 He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to
the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. 40 Then
he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” 41 They were
filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind
and sea obey?”
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