Sunday, June 23, 2024
Jb 38:1, 8-11 | 2 Cor 5:14-17 | Mk 4:35-41
The liturgical readings for this Sunday Time focus on the sea and the perils of seafaring recalling that three days ago, June 20th, we celebrated World Refugees Day.
World Refugees Day was inaugurated in 2001 by the United Nations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the convention on the status of refugees. It commemorates refugees who were forced to leave their home countries because of persecution, violence, or other reasons.
Although refugees need to be cared for every day, World Refugee Day raises awareness so people will realize that refugees are constantly in need of our help. What drew me to the celebration of refugees was, in particular, the readings on water and sailing, since many refugees come by way of rickety boats that often sink, killing many.
And there are those who cross by land, across the United States southern border, many of whom perish on the way through various drugs, robbers, sickness, weather, or other causes.
The reading from Job is taken from a long speech God delivers to Job. In this excerpt, He speaks out from a storm and tells Job he was not around when God set the boundaries for the water and told him to go no further.
Within the boundaries set by the creator God, the sea can become a fearful and tumultuous place as it is captured in the poetic lines of the psalm response, the sea “lifts up its waves they mount up to the sky, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.”
As we turn to the Gospel selection, we find the disciples are depicted as scared to death as their boats are tossed and turned in the violent storm. As seasoned fishermen, one would have expected that they were used to such violent storms which were frequent on the Lake. Since Mark was writing at the time of the Jewish revolt against the Romans (67 -73 CE), he was probably speaking of the small band of Jesus’ followers who were being tossed and turned in the storm of persecution. The boat was an early symbol for the community as depicted in ancient art.
Today the “Bark of Peter “ is being buffeted in many parts of our world. As we continue with our celebration of the Eucharist today, let us remember the thousands of refugees internal and external who are in great need, and also the members of our communities who are being subjected to harassment in various parts of the world.
Featured image: Cuban migrants sail in a rustic vessel south of Key West, Florida, taken by the U.S. Coast Guard via flickr.
