31 January 2026 – Saturday of the 3rd week of Ordinary Time
2 Samuel 12:1-7a, 10-17; Mark 4:35-41
HOMILY
On the seventh day of creation, God rested. After creating, over the previous six days, a universe that experienced thunder and lightning, storms and hurricanes, volcanoes and earthquakes, God rested peacefully because He had set limits that these forces of nature could not cross.
The disciples – at least some of them – were professional sailors. Their mistake, in today's Gospel, was not wanting to take responsibility for steering their boat through the storm. They had no control over the forces of nature, but they did have control over their boat. Jesus was asleep after an exhausting day of preaching because he trusted his disciples, who were experienced fishermen and had weathered many storms on the capricious Sea of Galilee. He let them do their job. After all, he was a carpenter, not a sailor. The disciples knew better than he did what to do in such circumstances. He also knew that while they were taking care of their boat, someone else was taking care of the winds and the sea. That someone else was his Father. And it was in his name that, after being awakened by the disciples, he cried out to the winds and the sea to be still.
It is interesting to note that this story comes, in Mark's Gospel, immediately after the parables of the seed and the mustard seed. There is no growth without some form of storm. In today's Gospel, the storm broke out after Jesus and his disciples decided to ‘cross to the other side...’ Most of the crossings to another shore in our lives are also shaken by storms. We must steer our boat as best we can. We are responsible for our boat; we are not responsible for the elements. The lack of faith that Jesus reproached his disciples for was first and foremost a lack of faith in themselves, before it was a lack of faith in the revealed truth that God had set limits and barriers to the storm. Within those limits, they had what it took to steer their boat, and it was their responsibility to do so.
In our lives, it is not uncommon for us to be caught in a storm. Often we become discouraged and allow fear to overcome us. We refuse to take responsibility and ask God to come and do our work for us. Or we try to control the situation itself; that is, we try to control the storm – which is not our job, and which we do disastrously. We try to wake up Jesus, who is sleeping peacefully, trusting us and teaching us to trust ourselves and the power He has given us.
In our stormy nights, the truth that can always reassure us is that God is in control of the elements around us, even when they seem completely out of control; and that Jesus is with us in our boat, even when He is asleep and the boat seems to be sinking.
Our faith in Him and our faith in ourselves are equally important. Ultimately, they are one and the same, since our deepest self is our configuration to Christ, who is the fullness of the self.
Armand VEILLEUX