In Sunday’s lection, the disciples find themselves in the middle of a raging storm. Jesus is with them, but he is asleep. The Gospel of Mark shares the detail that he was sleeping on a pillow. Scholars say that the pillow was actually a sack of sand for ballast.
What’s fascinating about this narrative is that the fisherfolk did not wake Jesus up until they themselves were already afraid.
Jesus, the carpenter, was sleeping in the safest part of the boat, beneath the stern deck. So, when the disciples–who lived by and off the sea in calm and stormy weather–came to wake him up, there was really reason to be afraid. The storm was life-threatening!
Jesus woke up and calmed the storm.
When fisherfolk–then and now–sound the alarm, lives are at stake. When indigenous communities cry out for help, they have done everything possible to avert disaster. When farmers declare that their livelihood is endangered, they have exhausted practically all avenues for relief.
When thousands of our Palestinian sisters and brothers–mostly women and children–are murdered by the Apartheid State of Israel, then demands for a ceasefire and a stop to genocide cannot be left unheeded.
Many among us, despite the storms of life, are asleep and safe because of what others are doing. But there are storms that are so dangerous and death-dealing, for everyone, that we MUST be awakened and be put to task.
It is time for us to arise and face the raging storms.
Gospel reflection of Prof. Revelation Velunta of the Union Theological Seminary (Cavite), for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Balik-Tanaw is a group blog of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR). The Lectionary Gospel reflection is an invitation for meditation, contemplation, and action.
