Father’s Day

          Today’s readings give us a big lesson in faith and trust.  As we heard in the gospel, Jesus’ disciples learned a lot about faith and trust during that storm while in a small boat.  We can learn in the same way.  There’s a way of praying with the scriptures that has been practiced by many people over the centuries and continues to be popular even today.  It’s called Lectio Divina or “Divine Reading,” or “Holy Reading.”  Part of the process is to take the passage of Scripture that you’re reading and meditating….and placing yourself into the story, into the middle of the action and not just seeing facial expressions of the characters, but feeling their emotions, and hearing the sounds of the action and seeing the same sights, smelling the smells.  I’m sure we’ve all been in some kind of storm in our lives.  Growing up in Iowa when I was little, I remember experiencing several tornadoes.  And I’ve certainly been in more than one snowstorm up here.  And so, with our experiences, it’s not hard to imagine ourselves in that boat with Jesus and his disciples during that storm.  And I’m sure we can identify with the disciples.  If we allow ourselves to be drawn into that scene, I think we can begin to feel the same terror and that the disciples were feeling.

          If you’ve never practiced Lectio Divina, I highly recommend it.  Find a quiet place and take about an hour to reflect on a particular gospel reading.  Listen for God to speak to you.  Most of the time his voice will come softly, but every once in a while, he’ll beat you over the head with his message until it’s unmistakable. 

          That’s what happened to Job in our first reading.  Job had lost everything, family, friends, home, health, and wealth.  And in the several chapters before today’s reading, Job had been presenting his case, and had argued, complained, and whined about how he’s been unjustly punished or treated poorly by God.  Job does everything except deny God.

          In today’s reading, God rebukes Job, basically saying that Job has no idea what God has been doing since the foundation of the world.  Where was Job when God created the earth and the sea?  Who is he to judge?  Just who is in charge?  Where was Job’s faith and trust?  If you continue reading through the end of the book of Job, we discover how caring and faithful God is once we begin to fully trust.  Job ends up living a long, happy, and fruitful life?

          Much of the time, we find it hard to trust because we find ourselves hurt, or lacking in confidence, or anxious about many things, and we feel the need to protect ourselves.

          Sometimes it’s hard to trust, because we may think we’re showing a weakness and we don’t think we’re showing a weakness and we don’t want to be vulnerable.  Distrust and self-protection are everywhere in society.  It’s hard to let ourselves be vulnerable and to trust that it’s safe to love unconditionally.

          There may be times in all our lives when we’re surrounded by sudden storms, when our trust is tested, and we wonder if Jesus cares or even knows what’s happening to us.  There may be times that no matter how much or how hard we pray, God remains silent, when it seems that Jesus is asleep in the boat when our lives seem to be tossed around in rough seas.

          Sometimes there just isn’t an answer for the question of suffering.  Our faith and trust in Jesus aren’t a guarantee that the waters will always be calm in our life; and our prayers won’t always resolve our fears.  But Jesus is always with us.  When Jesus is silent and it seems like he’s asleep, he finally may only speak up just to chide us and say to us, “Why are you so terrified?  Why are you so lacking in faith?”  When that day comes, may we all be able to say, “I do trust you Lord, I may be upset and scared, but I’m staying in the boat.”  “Whatever storm comes my way, Lord, I know that you’ll always be with me, that you’ll never leave me, no matter what.”  Faith and trust aren’t just good habits or virtues, they are the most important qualities of any relationship.  They are what happens when one person is intimately connected to another.  So, they are the avenues that each of us has to travel in order to be at one with God.  And that is our goal, to be at one with God, isn’t it?

          So how do we get there?  To that high a level of faith and trust?  It’s a journey that often takes a lifetime.  It takes a lot of hard work and to master it, is to become a saint.