＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Job 38:1, 8-11

Then Yahweh answered Job out of the storm:

  Who shut the sea behind closed doors when it burst forth from the womb,   when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling clothes;   when I set its limits with doors and bars in place,   when I said, “You will not go beyond these bounds; here is where your proud waves must halt?”

 

Ps 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31

Give thanks to the Lord, his love is everlasting.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

2 Corinthians 5:14-17

Indeed the love of Christ holds us and we realize that if he died for all, all have died.   He died for all so that those who live may live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and rose again for them.  And so from now on, we do not regard anyone from a human point of view; and even if we once knew Christ personally, we should now regard him in another way.

 For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For him the old things have passed away; a new world has come.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Mark 4:35-41

On that same day when eve­ning had come, Jesus said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.”   So they left the crowd and took him away in the boat he had been sitting in, and other boats set out with him.   Then a storm gathered and it began to blow a gale. The waves spilled over into the boat so that it was soon filled with water.   And Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

They woke him up and said, “Master, don’t you care if we sink?”   As Jesus awoke, he rebuked the wind and ordered the sea, “Quiet now! Be still!” The wind dropped and there was a great calm.   Then Jesus said to them, “Why are you so frightened? Do you still have no faith?”

 But they were terrified and they said to one another, “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:

Jesus went on a boat with His disciples intending to cross to the other side of the lake. While sailing, a storm broke out while Jesus was asleep in the stern. His disciples were afraid and woke Him up. He immediately calmed the waves and strong winds. Then He rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith.

Reflect:

Our life is like a journey amidst the tempest of the world. We need to constantly sail to find new possibilities, fresh beginnings and experiences. But in our journey sometimes storms gather and batter us mid sea. We are buffeted on all sides.

And like the disciples who exhausted all their human capacities to combat the tempest, we turn and call to God for help. God is our last recourse rather than our reliable partner in facing the vicissitudes of life. And so, Jesus has the right to mildly rebuke us for leaning more on our strength rather than His own.

It is not like that Jesus wants us to be dependent on Him all the time. He wants to work a reliable partnership with us. We use all possibilities to face our daily trials in tandem with His help. This makes us strong even if the tide is overwhelming. He has His hand in our hand. That’s why we are strong.

Respond:

We try to be strong or we give in to our weakness in the face of insurmountable odds. Or we can choose to believe that Jesus is with us in all difficult moments. It depends on our individual characteristics. Today is a good day to check our attitude when we face problems in life. Do we face it on our own? Or do we give in to despair and lose hope? Or we partner with God and together face the odds?