Sunday's Message: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Welcome back to another edition of Sunday's Message. Here, I will reproduce the readings for Mass from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition. (I want to thank Greg Pierce at ACTA for giving me permission to do this weekly post.) While this is not an "official" Catholic edition, one of my hopes for doing this new series is to have a lively discussion on the renderings, compared to the more formal ones we are use to reading and hearing at Mass. Is there a place for a translation like this? Could this be a good Bible to give to a Catholic "seeker" or young adult? I have used it while teaching my high school theology classes, along with the NRSV and NABRE, and have had positive results. 

I would like to also propose a question or encouragement each week to reflect upon, particularly in light of the rendering found here in The Message: Faith is such an amazing gift which we are called to nurture each and every day, both in times of triumph and distress.  I too often rally to myself, instead of to God, when times get difficult.  Yet, it is in those difficult times that Lord is beckoning us to reach out to him in faith and trust, not with a form of cowardice.  Consider a time when you needed to rely on He who can calm the storms and yet you chose to keep anchor in your own abilities.  Ask the Lord to open your heart to him when those storms return.  Perhaps that time is now.  


Job 38:1, 8-11

And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:

"Who took charge of the ocean

when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb?

That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds,

and tucked it in safely at night.

Then I made a playpen for it,

a strong playpen so it couldn’t run loose,

And said, ‘Stay here, this is your place.

Your wild tantrums are confined to this place.’"

Psalm 107

Some of you set sail in big ships;

you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.

Out at sea you saw God in action,

saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:

With a word he called up the wind—

an ocean storm, towering waves!

You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;

your hearts were stuck in your throats.

Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;

he got you out in the nick of time.

He quieted the wind down to a whisper,

put a muzzle on all the big waves.

And you were so glad when the storm died down,

and he led you safely back to harbor.

So thank God for his marvelous love,

for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.

2 Corinthians 5:14-17

Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.

Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!

Mark 4:35-41

Late that day he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?”

Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, “Quiet! Settle down!” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?”

They were in absolute awe, staggered. “Who is this, anyway?” they asked. “Wind and sea at his beck and call!”